(from left to right; Silvio Menzano, Dave Ellis, Jocelyn Casser)

     Were you guys surprised that this clue was a triple-stumper in On the L-I-E? (Those letters will appear in that order in each correct response.): ”An isolated body, or an unusual piece of data.”*

     Dave steam-rolled through the Jeopardy round, you might say.  The scores had me reeling when he found the Daily Double, also the last clue of the round: Silvio had 800, Dave had 10000, and Jocelyn had 400.  Normally, when I write the scores down while I watch the show, I abbreviate them.  This time I did not because I wanted to be sure I did not make a mistake!  Dave wagered 1000 on the clue in Medal of Honor Citations.  It seems like a conservative bet, but it was more than either of his opponents had!  This was the clue: “Sgt. Francis Currey, for actions at Malmedy, Belgium, Dec. 21, 1944, during this battle.”*  He got it right.

     Double Jeopardy was rough for everyone.  There were lots of triple-stumpers that got me, too.  I did get these two triple-stumpers, though: In There’s Only One…(meaning there is only one of the object of the clue): “Current profession of the first lady’s brother.”*  This clue gave me a probably inordinate amount of joy that everyone on the show missed it.  I laughed and cheered!  I knew this one cold because he came to Lincoln (I think twice, actually) to execute his “profession,” and I saw it myself once.

     This is the other triple-stumper I got, in Bones Humana: “The foot contains wedge-shaped bones that share a name with this ancient Middle Eastern writing system.”*

     Silvio did run the Italian Words and Phrases category early in the round, which brought his total to 8000 just like that.  Unfortunately, I don’t think he answered anything else until after Dave found the two Daily Doubles.  When Dave found the first one in Welcome to my Country, Dave had 17800, Jocelyn had 0 (yes, 0!) and I had 19400.  Dave wagered 2000 on this clue: “Come worship at Cretulescu Church, built in 1722 in this country on the Black Sea.”*  Dave missed it, but do you really think it matters?  There was one category remaining, Percy Bysse Shelley.  When Dave found the second Daily Double, he had 16200, Jocelyn had -400 (trouble for her, with only 3 clues left!), and I had 19000.  Dave wagered 100 on this clue: “In an ode Shelley calls this the ‘breath of autumn’s being.'”*  That was a toughie, and Dave missed it. 

     Lucky for Jocelyn, she got this one right and was present for Final Jeopardy (after Silvio got it wrong in what seemed like a desperate attempt to be competitive in the final): “A work that Shelley called ‘a lyrical drama’ finds this mythical man ‘unbound.'”*  Mr. Trebek seemed as happy as she did!

     So for Final Jeopardy, Silvio had 4400, Dave had 16100, Jocelyn had 1200, and I had 18600.  The final category was Characters in Novels, and this was the clue: “Debuting in a 1960 novel, this charater dies following a heart attack on a basketball court in a 1990 book.”*  I wasted a lot of time (okay, 30 seconds) on this clue, because I have never even heard of the weird response.  Everyone on the show missed it, too.  In fact, no one had any guess; they all had written question marks!  Also “in fact,” Mr. Trebek looked like he may have been unfamiliar with the correct response, as he had to look down at his card while announcing the correct response.  Jocelyn lost everything but a dollar, and Silvio lost everything.  Dave wagered 100 again.  I loved his enthusiastic response to winning: He punched a fist into his other hand.  I hope he wins tomorrow.  I love when the contestants are feelin’ it!

*outlier, Battle of the Bulge, basketball coach, cuneiform, Romania, west wind, Prometheus, Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom,