Today’s contestants:
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| Tim Kresowik |
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| Christopher Short |
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| Heather Timberlake |
They were introduced as, from right to left, a urology resident, a new mom, and, of course, a pub trivia editor. Kind of weird occupations tonight.
For me, the most notable aspect of this game was how badly it went for me. My Coryat was 13600, which is kind of low but higher than I would’ve expected. (Contestant Coryats are below.) My best categories were Ends in “ss” and “Eu” First. My worst were [deep inhale, a la Ace Ventura]: River City, Ancient Egypt (in which I didn’t answer any), Amendment Highlights, and I’m Next. This is the only triple-stumper of the game that I got, in Title Role Playing: “Peggy Sue Got Married.”
Now that I think about it a little more, this game was also notable for me for its three clues about Catholicism, one of which was the Final. The first, in “Eu” First: “It’s another name for Holy Communion in the Catholic Church.” The second, in I’m Next: “Popes: Pius XII, John XXIII…” (Do you really think Christopher, because he guessed “John Paul II,” didn’t know that he immediately followed John Paul I?)
How did you guys do in River City? I got the first clue right because I visited Cologne, Germany, last summer. (That was the clue: “Cologne, Germany.”) But I missed the rest of them. The next three clues in the category has the same correct response as the first, which I thought was a little dirty.
Tim found the Daily Double of the round just before the first break, in Easy Molecular Biology. He had 2200 while Christopher had 1400 and Heather had 600. So eager was Tim to make it a true Daily Double that he started saying it while the audience was still applauding, then waited til they finished. This was the clue: “This process is benign when is replicates DNA segments, but makes people nervous when it replicates mammals.” This was a softball, I thought, and Tim got it too.
At the end of the round, Christopher led with 6800, Heather had 3200, and Tim had 5000.
Heather found both the Daily Doubles of the Double Jeopardy round, with only a clue or two between them. The first was in Blue Literature. Christopher still led, this time with 7200. Tim had 6600. Heather wagered 3000 of her 3600 on this clue: “In this 1908 romance by Henry de Vere Stacpoole, a pair of 8-year-old cousins are marooned on a tropical island.” I got it right but Heather missed it, and still didn’t seem to know when Mr. Trebek reminded her of the category.
Heather answered the next clue correctly in Amendment Highlights, then found the other Daily Double there. She had 1400, and of course the guys’ scores were the same as when she found the other Daily Double. She wagered 2000 on this clue: “Nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” She got it, and so did I.
At the end of the round, Tim led with 13400, while Christopher had 9600 and Heather had 6200. The Final Jeopardy category was Geographic Adjectives. This was the clue: “Of the nations with adjectives in their common names, only this western hemisphere one bears the name of a religious order.” I thought and thought but couldn’t come up with this one. Heather’s response was accepted even though she was missing three letters. It didn’t matter, because Tim (as well as Christopher) got it right, too, and Tim already had twice what Heather did. Christopher wagered 2000, and Tim wagered 5801: enough to win had Christopher doubled. So we will see giant-killer Tim tomorrow. And we’re highly likely to see Christopher in the Tournament of Champions. And that’s a good thing. He was fun to watch.
Coryats for today: Christopher’s was 9600, Heather’s was 8400, and Tim’s was 12000. So maybe I didn’t do so badly after all.
