The Mole: 7/14/08

It seems like so long ago that The Mole was last on!!

Nicole calls herself Dr. Diva (wonder what her patients think about that...) and Paul said that he just wants to outlast her.

They are in the Mendoza region of Argentina, where the finest Malbec wine is made. Clay is put off by the scent of the vineyard.

For the challenge, they split into to groups - runners and thinkers.

The Runners are Mark, Alex, and Clay, and they choose Mark as their best athlete.

The Thinkers are Paul, Nicole, and Craig, and they pick Paul as their best communicator. More Paul picked himself.

The Mission is called The Grapes of Cash. They have to find 7 bottles of Malbec hidden in the vineyard. Each one is worth $10,000. The thinkers have to answer trivia questions, and if they get a question right, they get coordinates to send to the runners (via cell phone) to find the wine. If the answer is wrong, the coordinates will be wrong. To keep time, Mark will be on a treadmill, If he stops, the mission is over. For every bottle that is found, the treadmill speeds up. As the Communicator, Paul cannot help Nicole and Craig with the trivia answers, but Mark is allowed to.

Brain Teaser #1: From the following list of words, choose the word that does not fit. Ice, Cheese, Chocolate, Plastic, Wood.

A. Chocolate
B. Wood
C. Ice
D. Cheese

(They choose Wood, because it is more solid than the others. Clay has a terrible time following the coordinates, having admitted that he is totally technically disinclined during an interview segment.)

Brain Teaser #2: Which number should replace the question mark?

14 4 9 2
13 7 4 5
11 4 5 3
22 5 9 ?

A. 5
B. 3
C. 8
D. 2

They choose 3 very quickly after some quick math.

Brain Teaser #3: Some months have 30 days, others have 31 days. In a single year, how many months have 28 days?

A. 1
B. 2
C. 12
D. 6

This is one of those slightly trick question ones, and I saw it right away. Mark helps them out when they are thinking about it, and they answer correctly 12. Mark speculates that a good way for the Mole to mess up the game would be answering questions.

Brain Teaser #4: How many different ways can you read ABC off the diamond?

A
ABA
ABCBA
ABA
A

A. 4
B. 6
C. 12
D. None of the above

Nicole works it out and got 10 right away, and they guess C. Paul is exasperated that they took so much time.

Meanwhile, a bottle is found from the coordinates given for the first question, so Wood was the correct answer. Mark's treadmill speeds up from the slow walk he was at.

Brain Teaser #5: Which number should come next in the following sequence?

2,5,3,9,6,18,15,45,42

A. 39
B. 120
C. 126
D. None of the above.

Mark got this one right away as C. The second bottle is found.

Brain Teaser #6: Jim is taller than Kevin and Walter is shorter than Jim. Which is the most accurate.

A. Walter is taller than Jevin
B. Walter is shorter than Kevin
C. Walter is as tall as Kevin
D. None of the above

Nicole wanted to answer C, which is a stupid answer, and Mark overruled her and answered D. Paul again questioned how much Nicole was trying, or how smart she is if she is not the Mole.

Brain Teaser #7: Every morning at 9 AM, my wine cellar receives a delivery of 22 bottles of wine, all of which are stored in the wine cellar. Every afternoon at 5 PM, I remove 12 bottles from my wine cellar and give them away to friends. No other bottles enter or leave my wine cellar except at these two times. On January 1, at 8 AM, I had 400 bottles in my wine cellar. On what date in January did my wine cellar first contain over 500 bottles of wine?

A. January 9
B. January 10
C. January 11
D. January 12

They choose C, I think it is B, because the wine afficianado in question hadn't received his day's wine yet on Jan 1, so his net for the day would in fact be 410. Jan 2 = 420, Jan 3 = 430, Jan 4 = 440, Jan 5 = 450, Jan 6 = 460, Jan 7 = 470, Jan 8 = 480, Jan 9 = 490, Jan 10 = 500. Now, the question does state over 500 bottles of wine, so they might actually be right... we'll see.

Paul sent the runners to the coordinates for Brain Teaser #7, and they retry. Not before there was some drama between Paul and Nicole. Paul erased the wrong answer, and they decided to fight while poor Mark was running. Smart. Mark again answered the right answer when he brought up the fact that the wine collector brought in 22 on the morning of January 9, then gave them away, but at the beginning of the day, he had 505. Smart.

Paul made an error in giving coordinates and blamed the Thinkers. Nicole resented that. Mark was running at full speed before long, and Clay and Alex walked leisurely through the vineyards looking for the last bottle of wine. They have to get back with the bottles before Mark has to stop, and he has been on the treadmill for almost an hour, and it was full speed for a good time. He was fighting to keep going, and it was a good fight, 53 minutes, and the Runners returned, earning $70,000. The pot is now $247,000. Mark was a superstar in this mission, because he was running on a treadmill and was answering most of the questions to boot!

The contestants got some good wine and then went to their hotel. Paul and Alex question how terrible Nicole was in the mission, and I agree. I don't like Paul so much, but she is just so terrible. Paul even questions that she is actually a doctor! Mark brings up the fact that everyone in the game could be implicated in no less than three sabotages. Anyone could be the Mole.

Alex made a little song about Nicole being the Mole and sang it to her, and she called herself Molarific. Craig brings up that Nicole never seems to take notes. Mark wants to encourage Alex to drink copious amounts of wine before the next quiz, in hopes that he messes up.

Time for the next Mission, called Swing Out. It's worth $60,000. They will be harnessed in a bungee rig and they walk a plank on top of a crane, and they have to toss a bag of mate onto a bullseye as they jump. The bullseye is worth $10,000, with outer rings with $8000, $6000, and $4000. Nicole calls last, because she thinks she might chicken out.

Mark is first. Before he jumps, he is offered a chance at exception. It's time for Exception Price is Right. The person who guesses closest to the amount the group is going to earn in the mission without going over will get the exception. Mark guesses $10,000. He then jumped and missed the bullseye.

Paul is next, and Mr. Host Man claims that he did the challenge and hit the target. Paul's exception guess was not revealed, but his bag went in the water. Oops.

Clay's guess was also not revealed, and he jumped and also missed the target. He kept his eyes closed most of the time.

Craig says that he doesn't dangle well, and he says he has vertigo. He guesses (secretly), jumps, and screams the whole way down, and his bag also falls short. Poor guy.

Alex also doesn't deal well with heights, but even though his jump was not graceful, he is the only one so far to hit any part of the target, even though it was $4000. Better than nothing.

Nicole looked down after getting bitchy at Mr. Host Man, and nearly quit, then brought on her girl power, and jumped quite gracefully. She missed the target badly, and Clay thought her miss was Molish, because she looked like she had goof form.

The total pot is up to $251,000.

No one got an exception, because they all had really high guesses. Nicole guessed $28,000, even though Alex had just gone and gotten $4000, and he was the only one to hit anything, and even if she had hit the target spot on, it wouldn't have made that much. I think being on the plank messed with all math.

Before the quiz, Nicole jotted down some information from Clay in her journal. Mr. Host Man welcomed them to their lovely pre-quiz dinner, and then he asked them who's conscience had kicked in. Everyone said that they left their scruples behind them. Clay attempted to get Alex to drink too much, and it didn't seem to work.

Quiz time.

1. Is the Mole Male or Female?
2. In the Grapes of Cash Mission, did the Mole help solve brain teasers?
3. Was the mole wearing a collared shirt during The Grapes of Cash?
4. In the Grapes of Cash, which group did the Mole join?
5. During wine and cheese after The Grapes of Cash, where in relation to Mr. Host Man was the Mole sitting?
6. In the Swing Out Mission, how many players jumped off the bridge before the mole?
7. In the Swing Out Mission, where did the Mole's Exception guess rank in the group, from highest to lowest?
8. In the Swing Out Mission, how much money did the mole add to to pot?
9. In the Swing Out Mission, what was the mole's exception prediction amount?
10. Who is the Mole?

(Cue tense music)

With no one else first, Alex is swiftly eliminated. The others seem genuinely sad to see him go. I am too. He is a pleasant guy. His Mole Hunting Theme song could be the next big hit.

Is it just me, or is this one of the best fed Reality Shows out there? No rats and coconuts for these contestants! They get gourmet food and copious amounts of wine. They get wine and cheese in Chile. That's cool.