I swept Facts and Figures today, which was a clever and rather misleading title for the category: Mr. Trebek would give a Fact about a bombshell (the Figure) that was pictured on the screen. Sample clue: “Fact: She co-starred with Tony Randall in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?“*
Okay, I have to admit I picked this clue because it was a triple-stumper. I also have to admit, then, that I just guessed on it, but I did say it out loud, a requirement to give myself credit when I’m playing with my Challenger. I figure (I hear you groaning!) if I don’t answer out loud, I would not have been confident enough about it to ring in and answer out loud on the show, either.
I sort-of got these two triple-stumpers, except I didn’t say them out loud. In “Last” Chance: “Bravo! It’s a final performance or effort before retirement and also the title of a 1958 Spencer Tracy film.”* And in Military Firsts: “In May 1783 Elijah Churchill and William Brown became the first recipients of this medal established by George Washington.”*
Ken Eberle found the Daily Double in the Jeopardy round, also in Military Firsts. At that time he had twice the total of one-day returning champ Marty Scott. Ken said proudly, “I’ve always wanted to do this. I want to make it a true Daily Double.” Sadly, he missed it: “The first battle casualties of this military unit were in 1527 when 147 died defending Pope Clement VII.”*
At the end of the Jeopardy round, then, Ken had 400, while Marty and Jennifer Roberson had 4000. Luckily, Ken also found the first Daily Double in the Double Jeopardy round, in On the Map. He was tied with Marty at 7200, while Jennifer had 9200. Ken wagered 2000 on this clue: “The name of this South American capital is believed to come from Magellan’s exlamation, ‘I see a hill!'”* Bravo, Ken! Did you guys come up with it in time? All I could think of in time was Buenos Aires, but I knew it was wrong.
Just three clues later, Marty found a Daily Double in Drop a Letter. This is the kind of category where I’d probably wager a bundle. Marty had 8000, Ken had 9600, and Jennifer still had 9200. Marty wagered 2000 on the clue: Drop a letter “…from a word referring to 2 lines of latitude and you get this word that refers to a subject for discussion.”* He got it right.
Going into Final Jeopardy, Marty had 15200, and Ken and Jennifer each had 10000. This scenario reminded me of the only three-way tie that happened on Jeopardy!, several years ago. It could’ve happened again today, except Jennifer wagered only 1400, and Marty wagered 4801. The Final Category was Flags and Banners. Weird. The clue: “This 15th century person said, ‘I had a banner of which the field was sprinkled with lilies”; written on top: ‘Jhesus Maria.'”* All I could think of was Cervantes! That was better than Ken’s guess of Pope Pius XIII, though, who doesn’t even exist. (Maybe he did it on purpose?) The other two contestants got it right. Marty, then is now a two-day champ! Come back Monday when my guest-blogger Brian gives us his take on the show, and lets us know whether Marty has won his third.
Here are my scores from Wednesday and Thursday this week:
Dan Katz Kyle Hutchinson Peter Hall Me
8800 19000 7200 19800
18601 18801 10550 18802
I think tomorrow I’ll be watching with my mom and the Jeopar-daddy (if we have time to watch it together). I’ll have to come up with a Jeopardy!-related moniker for my mom. Anyone have any ideas? I will ask her, too!
*Jayne Mansfield, The Last Hurrah, the Purple Heart, Swiss Guard, Montevideo, topic (from ‘tropic’)