BIG, exciting news: Tournament of Champions quarterfinalist Stephen Weingarten has graciously agreed to be interviewed for this blog! Mr. Weingarten is a four-time champ from the current season. He was also a “giant-slayer:” His first victory was a win was over another Tournament of Champions quarterfinalist, Ryan Chaffee. He earned more than $98,000 over his five episodes. Tell me: What is it you want to know from him? Leave me a comment.
In other Jeopardy! news, today was the first day of the Tournament of Champions semifinals. I’m not going to pretend I didn’t have a favorite in Stefan Goodreau! I like him more with every episode. What’s not to like? He’s funny, he’s cool under pressure, he’s tall, he’s almost always smiling, he can win on Jeopardy!….
Oh, there were two other contestants today: Terry Linwood and Dave Belote. I like Terry, too, because he makes the Sign of the Cross after a victory. Terry was a winner from last week, while Stefan and Dave were wild-cards. Stefan was off to a bit of a slow start. When Dave found the Daily Double in the Jeopardy round (also the last clue before the first commercial break), Stefan had no money, while Terry had 1800 and Dave had 4800. Dave lost 2400 on this clue in Cut!: “The forte is the lower, sturdier part of a sword; this upper, weaker part of the blade also refers to any human flaw.”* I thought this one was tough. Did any of you know it? I’ll be impressed!
Stefan, at 2000, was still in third place going into Double Jeopardy. Terry had 6000, and Dave had 3400. Stefan dove into the Chemistry category right away, which I liked. He answered two of three clues correctly in that category before finding a Daily Double. He earned 1600 on this clue: “It’s the conversion of a carboyhdrate such as sugar into an acid or an alcohol.”*
When there was one category remaining in the round (Lesser-Known Art and Artists), Stefan appeared to be searching for the Daily Double. When that category began, he was nipping at Terry’s 14800 heels with 11200, while Dave had 7800. The Daily Double wound up being in the 800 slot (!), and the last clue in the round. Terry found it, after Stefan had selected the bottom three clues in that category! Terry was leading by 2000, which is also what he wagered. The clue was a softball: “He’s been thrown from his horse and struck blind in Parmigianino’s painting of ‘The Conversion of’ this man.”* Terry knew it. Did you guys know it, too? Terry, then, ended the round with 17200. Stefan had 13200, and Terry still had 7800.
The Final Jeopardy category was 20th Century Thinkers. I guessed correctly on this one: “Refusing to imprison this man for demonstrating during the 1960s, de Gaulle said, ‘One does not arrest Voltaire.'”* Only Dave got this one right. He picked up 213. Why, incidentally, do you think he wagered like that? I personally feel like the Tournament of Champions is not the time for cutesy wagers. But I’m kind of glad he did that this time: If he had wagered just 1400, he’d have won. Stefan lost 4001, while Terry lost 9201 (ouch!), making STEFAN the winner today, and a finalist in the Tournament of Champions! I think that Justin Bernbach and Liz Murphy may be his toughest competitors, and I see on Jeopardy!‘s website that they are not playing in the same game in the semifinals. Here’s another chance for you to make predictions. I wanna see ’em!
*foible, fermentation, Saul of Tarsus, Jean-Paul Sartre