(Anybody remember that forgettable De Niro movie?)
Here are two more installments in Preston Nicholson’s report on his own Jeopardy! experience. (“Getting the Call” and “At the Studio“!) Don’t forget to read the comments. Preston’s gonna be on the show Friday.
And speaking of comments, Blogger has rolled out threaded comments on its blogs. I’m eager to see what it looks like here!
Today’s contestants: Vinayak Thiagarajan, Katy Stigers, and 3-time champ Dan McShane.
I’d gotten word in a private tweet from a friend as well as a tweet from a new friend, that today’s episode was on the easy side. I did sweep Celebrities’ Middle Names straight away. Of course I was happy about the Catholic Priests category. Katy went straight there when she could – She was sort of dressed like a priest with a black sweater and white shirt underneath. I don’t like to go to the boards before I’ve blogged on that day’s episode, but I suspect that this first clue in the category will be controversial!: “Served by priests, it may not exceed 18% alcohol.” I said “wine,” because I didn’t think they’d like “Precious Blood”! Dan said “Communion wine” and was counted right. I said “pastor” in response to this clue: “Parish priests have their own one of these, John Vianney.” Oops. I got the rest of them right, including this triple-stumper: “This spiritual ‘director’ doesn’t arrange your holiday, he helps young men pursue their calling to the priesthood.” Then came the first break. Dan had 3400, Katy had 1800, and Vinayak had 2200. Dan had found the Daily Double, in Travel. He had 2000, Katy had not responded yet, and Vinayak had 1600. Dan wagered it all on this clue: “This island’s Mataveri Intl. Airport, the world’s most remote, is serviced only by Chile’s LAN Airlines.” He and I got it right.
After that first break, Vinayak speedily swept Come “In”, putting him in the lead. At the end of the round, Dan had 7200, Katy had 2200, and Vinayak had 5000. I’d taken a few ill-advised guesses and clams, for example, “Rembrandt” instead of “Vermeer,” “International” instead of “Inuit,” and “Seurat” even though I meant “Cassatt.” I kept it up in the Double Jeopardy round too many times to really mention, while Dan broke away from the pack. He swept The De Niro Code, which featured quotes from De Niro movies. He then led by 9000 dollars! Then he got a handful of clues in Go “South” and Mesopotamia, where he found the first Daily Double. He had 20000, Katy had 1800, and Vinayak had 5800. Dan wagered 3000 on this clue: “Transcribed in the 1800s, the Behistun inscription is the Rosetta Stone for this type of writing developed in Mesopotamia.” As was typical for me today, I answered correctly, then changed my response to “hieroglyphics.” (So I don’t think I can count it, right, even though it was a Daily Double?) Dan, typical for him today, got it right.
I got this triple-stumper in the nick of time in The Cleveland Clinic: “M.I. stands for myocardial infarction, or heart attack. M.I. also stands for this innovative type of heart surgery, with tiny instruments that can reduce trauma and complications.”
Vinayak, who’d been silent for a while, got the second-to-last clue, which gave him the last clue – the Daily Double. Tricky – Dan had 25800, Katy had 5800, and Vinayak had 8200. He seems to have done the right thing by wagering 5000, but I’m open to correction, as always. This was the clue: “Robin Williams thanked the Cleveland Clinic team for his heart surgery, saying after getting a replacement one of these from a cow, the grazing’s been fun!” Jimmy held up the item in question, but as you may remember I can’t send pictures from my phone right now. Thank God they didn’t want a specific response, because I gave the general response and hoped for the best! I was right but Vinayak guessed wrong, allowing Dan to keep his runaway.
The Final Jeopardy category was Food Etymology. This was the toughie clue: “Keith Downey developed rapeseed into this cooking product, now a huge cash crop for farmers in Saskatchewan.” I didn’t get it. 🙁 Neither did any of the contestants. Vinayak lost 2601. Katy lost 2600, and Dan lost 4200. It’s okay, he’s back tomorrow. Til then! My Coryat today was 22200. Can’t wait to read the boards now….
Showtime
