Meet Me in September

     Jeopardy!‘s summer hiatus begins with the end of this week.  Mr. Trebek said today that the coming weeks will feature reruns (I hate to use that word) of the teachers, college, and teen tournaments, as well as the Watson matches.  My friend Robert tells me the college tournament will be first next week.  I’ll still be blogging.  Hopefully the matches I did not blog on the first time will coincide with the nights I have off from work (so I can blog on those).
     Speaking of the summer hiatus, the Summer Hiatus Challenge begins on Monday over on the Jeopardy! message boards.  I had a blast playing last year.  I hope you’ll join us.
     Today’s contestants:

Lisa McDermott

Justin Sausville

Marty Butterick

     Justin won convincingly yesterday, his first time.  He found the Daily Double in the Jeopardy round today, in The Department of Homeland Security.  He had 1600, Marty had 1400, and Lisa had 2200.  Justin wagered 1000 on this clue: “You’ll find this branch of the military under the DHS umbrella.”  Justin seemed to answer (correctly) so quickly I felt like I didn’t have time to think about my response, and I didn’t give one.  That’s a no-no when you’re keeping track of your Coryat: Incorrect responses don’t count against you in that method of scoring, so it’s your chance to guess.  At the first break, I’d gotten 10/15 right.  Justin had 2600, Marty had 2000, and Lisa had 3200.
     Was anyone else surprised that this clue, of all of ’em in Ray Charles, was a triple-stumper?: “Ray Charles had a No. 1 hit with this song that says, ‘I’ll have to pack my things and go.'”
     At the end of the round, I’d gone 16/30 including 4/6 on the $1000 clues.  Justin had 7200, Marty had 3800, and Lisa had 3400. 
     Like the Jeopardy round, I liked the categories of the Double Jeopardy round.  Marty found the first Daily Double of the round three clues in, in State Gems.  It seemed like he might have been looking for it, because he started the category at 800.  He had 5000, Justin had 7200, and Lisa still had 3400.  This was the clue: “This form of silica, also the name of a Michigan city, is Ohio’s gemstone.”  He and I got it right.
     I took a chance and guessed on this triple-stumper in Book Titles, which is also something of a no-no: “A bestseller by Jamie Ford is ‘Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and’ this.”
     I almost guessed the correct response to this clue in 15 Letters or More after Justin and Marty gave responses that were ruled incorrect: “One function of the CIA is this – defending against foreign espionage.”  Later, Justin’s response of “counterespionage” was ruled acceptable, and they gave back the money they took from Marty after his subsequent incorrect response (“counterinsurgency”).  Personally, I don’t think they should’ve accepted Justin’s response, since “espionage” was in the clue.  I also don’t think they should give Marty’s money back for his incorrect response.
     I’ve never heard of this correct response in 15 Letter or More, but I threw it out there and it was right: “After the physicist who discovered x-rays, it’s another name for a doctor who interprets x-rays.”
     Speaking of doctors, Marty beat Justin, a doctor, to this correct response in “V” Love Science: “The tricuspid valves help separate the atria from these heart cavities.”  This one is the only one I missed in that category: “The monarch butterfly tastes bad to predators, so as a form of defense, this palatable but smaller butterfly mimics the monarch’s coloration and pattern.”
     When Justin found the next Daily Double in the round, Mr. Trebek said there was less than a minute to go, but there were 8 clues left!  When there were 7 left, he said there were “not too many”! ? I’m guessing it was all the triple-stumpers that wasted time.  Justin had 17200, Marty had 14200, and Lisa had 5800.  Justin wagered 2800 on this clue in Politicians: “Egan Krenz was the last communist political leader of this country that was absorbed by its neighbor in 1990.”  Justin got it right immediately.
     Five clues were left on the board at the end of the round.  Justin had 20000, Marty had 14200, and Lisa had 6200.  The Final Jeopardy category was Los Angeles Landmarks.  I lived in Southern California for over 2 years, and I’ve been there many times, so I felt pretty good about this category.  Here is the clue: “A James Dean Memorial can be found adjacent to this structure, located at one of the high spots in Los Angeles.”  I guessed what Marty and Lisa did, and we were wrong.  Lisa lost 2400, but Marty lost nothing.  Justin shrugged and looked like he didn’t know what the right answer was, but he got it right!  Good thing, too: He wagered 8401 and would’ve lost with a miss.  So we’ll see him when the new season begins, which may be later than originally planned now that Mr. Trebek has been injured.
     My Coryat today was 21400.  Justin‘s was 18600, Marty’s was 11000, and Lisa’s was 6200.