There were some pretty weird clues on the show today, especially in the Jeopardy round. I suspect that there were more triple-stumpers than usual in that round. Two of the three clues in Let’s Be Logical, for example, were quite tricky. I took a class in logic in college and liked it a lot, but I do hate solving logic problems in puzzle books. Do you guys, Jeopardy! fans, like to solve them? I dare you to answer this one in 8 seconds: “Mary’s mom had 4 girls; the first was named April, the second June, the third May, and the fourth this.”* And even though I am a proud Husker, I know next-to-nothing about football. This one handcuffed me: “An NFL game ended 17-7; the losing team scored no touchdowns but this many field goals.”* The only thing I can think of is that there is no way to score one point in an NFL game. Yes, I could look this up, and I will if I don’t hear from anyone. After these two triple-stumpers, contestant Greg Lyon bailed and moved to another category.
There were three triple-stumpers in a category as innocent-seeming as Music Class. I got this one worth 400: “Spohr wrote one of these for (start counting) flute, oboe, horn, clarinet, bassoon, violin, viola, cello, and double bass.”* I didn’t know this one worth 800: “Duets for 2 players at one piano, like Faure’s ‘Dolly’ Suite, go by this numerical term”* or this one worth 1000: “If it found its way into an orchesra, a hurdy-gurdy would be found in this section.”* At the end of Double Jeopardy, one-day champ Jeff Johnson had 2000, Greg had 5000, and Susan Thatcher had 3200.
Jeff seemed to sweep the difficult category Colonial Names for Countries, giving him a 2600 lead. He answered two more clues, then found the first Daily Double in English Literature. We found out then that he was going to be penalized for mispronouncing “Guyana.” (To which I say, “Really?”) Jeff then ALL of his 8400 on the Daily Double! This is the bold action I hinted at my last entry. Even though he had the lead, he didn’t worry about protecting it enough that he wasn’t willing to risk it for a big pay-off. And pay off it did. Jeff slam-dunked this one and stretched his lead to 11400: “This children’s novel begins, ‘These two very old people are the father and mother of Mr. Bucket.'”*
Susan found the other Daily Double in the round. She wagered 2000 of her 3200 on this clue in Name the Speaker, and got it right: “1936: ‘A few hours ago, I discharged my last duty as king.'”* Jeff’s daring wager on his Daily Double slammed the door on his opponents, though. At the end of Double Jeopardy, he had 19600, Greg had 3800, and Susan had 8000.
The Final Jeopardy category was Film History, and this was the clue: “Written by Thomas Dixon, 1916’s film ‘The Fall of a Nation’ is considered the first of these ever made.”* I guessed the same thing as Greg, but everyone got it wrong. Greg lost 1313, Susan lost 7000, and Jeff lost 3500. Jeff comes back tomorrow to try for his third win.
My score for Wednesday’s game, compared to the contestants’:
*Mary, one, nonet, four hands, strings, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Duke of Windsor (Edward VIII), sequel