I’m still visiting my friend in the hospital. She’ll probably get out tomorrow but I have to go home tonight anyway. I bring this up because I didn’t have the benefit of pausing the show or even watching it over again to take better notes. And I’m not as lucky today – the episode is not on the archive as of this writing. Plus we were interrupted once when a nurse’s aide came in, but I’m giving myself credit for the clue because I know I’d have gotten it. (“diapers”)
By the way, I’d planned to take the online test tonight just for fun. I have my netbook here, but unfortunately it said the screen resolution was too small. I tried to fix that but it was as high as it could go. I will probably play from the Jeopardy! message boards eventually. If you took any of the tests this week, how did it go?
Today’s contestants were software engineer Zach May (sound familiar?), Debra McGuire, and 1-time champ Amy Stephenson. Debra really seemed to struggle today, but she led with 2200 when she found the Daily Double in Of Milk. I’d been sweeping the category but she and I both missed this one, and she lost everything. I’d have wagered it all, too. Amy had 200 and Zach, seemingly a cool dude, had 800. Later, in Double Jeopardy, poor Debra not only went into the hole on a 2000 clue, but Amy picked it up. By the way, my friend Robert tells me Debra is an archivist on j-archive.com! I feel really bad knowing that.
Zach started to build a lead after that Daily Double. At the first break, he had 3600 while Amy had 1400 and Debra had 0. At the end of the round, he had 7400 while Debra had 1200 and Amy had 3000.
I was a little surprised that a Daily Double was in a pop culture category. (That was the category’s name.) Amy found it. She had 11400, poor Debra had 400, and Zach had 8200. NNo one – me, my mother, anyone on Twitter – could remember the clue, but a Twitter friend, DubCmusic, got it to me with a little time to spare: The correct response was Jimmy Dean. Amy and I got it right! The only one I didn’t get in that category was that “Once Upon a Time” at 800, which still confounds me.
By the way, my uncle’s here, and I asked him if by chance he watched today’s episode and could tell me what that Daily Double was about. (This is the same uncle who said it was “one for the ages” when he found out I’m going to be on the show.) He hadn’t watched today’s episode, but he suggests I write a monthly “seat-of-the-pants” blog entry, kinda like this one. He thinks I would get a lot of feedback on those. Not a bad idea!
And speaking of ideas, this is a little off the subject but this uncle and I saw the movie “Wordplay” in the theater when it first came out in 2006. He and I agreed at that time to someday go to the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament together. I’ve gone, in 2010, but he has not. I asked him just now and he says he knows he cannot go. “Even a year from now?” I said. Anyway, I figure why not ask here if anyone wants to tackle this with me?
Zach found the next Daily Double in Old Virginia, which was the only category remaining at that time. He went straight for the 1200 clue. He and I got this wrong. Actually he answered so quickly I didn’t have a chance to formulate a response. They wanted to know where the capital of Virginia moved from Jamestown, and he said “Richmond.” They wanted “Williamsburg.” He lost 3400 of his 13800. Amy had 17200 and Debra had 1600. I didn’t get any right in this category. Debra got a couple because she moved up to 4400 by the end of the round. Amy got one because she had 17600, and Zach still had 10400.
Like yesterday, today’s New York Times had an ad with today’s Final Jeopardy category (Fathers and Sons). I took note this time, and guess what – the clue was the one from the show, too. So I’d read it already when it was revealed on TV, but I’d gotten it right when I read it this morning anyway. (The correct response wasn’t there.) Mr. Trebek emphasized that Debra was in a distant third (totally unnecessary, of course). She got it right, though! I thought this was a very easy final but Zach and Amy got it wrong. Amy didn’t wager enough to lose the match. She will be back tomorrow.
My Coryat today was 15200. I got more right than usual and I swept two categories (The Land and Historic Dates), but I had 8 negs.
My Coryat for this GSN rerun was 12400. I had 6 negs and just 9 right in Double Jeopardy! I had 19 right and no negs in the Jeopardy round.
Last but not least, I chatted with David Madden this morning. He suggested I let you know that there are around 60 regional high school history bowls scheduled over the next 3 months, including 7 this Saturday. Here’s the list.
Culture Flub, but saved by Dub
