Now that GSN is airing Jeopardy! every single day, I’m gonna have twice as many Coryats to post. (I know; lucky you.) I should point out that I played these very same games, David Madden‘s, when I was studying for my own appearance on Jeopardy! I may recognize some of the clues. I still have copies of them in a three-ring binder, so it’s kinda cool, for better or for worse, to see how much I knew then and now!
originally 9-12-05: 22000
1-3-12: 15400
originally 9-13-05: 27000
1-4-12: 15800
originally 9-14-05: 15400
(I didn’t like that score until I saw that when I was preparing for the show, my score was 11400!)
1-5-12: 16600
originally 9-15-05: 20200 (My score when I was preparing was 18000.)
A week from today, Preston Nicholson will be appearing on Jeopardy! I “know” him from Twitter and the Jeopardy! message boards. He and I both auditioned in Kansas City last summer. I just can’t wait until next week to share some of his blog posts about his whole experience. I’ve left a comment or two on each post!:
My Jeopardy! Journey – The Online Test
My Jeopardy! Journey – Preparing for the Audition
My Jeopardy! Journey – The Audition
Speaking of blogs, I made an exciting discovery today – The blog that inspired me to start my own. (I’m “Jeanie from Lincoln, NE” in this entry, and I took the pictures in this entry.) I’d searched for this blog before and thought it was long gone. It does my heart good to see it again. I’ve left a comment on the most recent entry, and I hope the author sees it.
As for today’s Jeopardy! episode, I still cannot send picture messages from my phone because the memory is supposedly full. I looked into buying a memory card. I discovered that I need only 250 reward points to get one for free, and that happens to be how many points I get each month. So will you wait with me that long? I don’t use the rewards for anything else.
Today’s contestants were Dan McShane, Molly Dahlberg, and 6-time champ (wow!) Dave Leach. According to my closed-captioning, Dan was introduced as a baseball game “logger.” I was certain it was supposed to be “blogger,” but I listened to his hometown howdy and that really does sound like what he’s saying. As Eminem says, “One more time, loud as you can, how does it go?” Anyway I thought Dan was sitting throughout his game, but he was standing at the end of the show.
At the first break, Dave had 1000, Molly had 1800, and Dan had 3400.
Dave found the Daily Double in New Mexico. It was the second-to-last clue of the round. He had 4600, Molly had 4000, and Dan had 4800. I kinda hoped he’d make it a true Daily Double, but he wagered 2300. It was for the best, as he didn’t get it right. This was the clue: “Most of what is now New Mexico was ceded to the U.S. in 1848 through this treaty that ended the Mexican War.” I thought this was a big toughie.
Dave had 2300, Molly had 4000, and Dan had 5800 at the end of the round. I swept Ribs in the round.
I liked the categories a lot in the Double Jeopardy round. Dave went straight to Game Descriptions. (Dave talked about collecting European games earlier in his run. Also, today he suggested that “board games” be a category in a diversion on the Jeopardy! message boards!) The first clue of the Double Jeopardy round was about baseball, but Dave and not Dan got this one right: “Send a one-hopper home to get the guy who tagged up; shoot it around the horn.”
Dan did get the first Daily Double in the round, after answering 3 of the previous 4 in On a First-Name Basis. Mr. Trebek said he’s “on a roll.” He had 12600, Dave had 5500, and Molly had 2400. Dan wagered 2600 on this toughie: “”Paul McCartney’s real first name; he shares it with two Apostles.” Okay, two Apostles?!? I thought I knew my Apostles but apparently not. Dan got it wrong too.
I was proud to get the first triple-stumper in The Times They Are A-Changin’, and I even remember commiting it to memory on the way to California to tape Jeopardy!, while reading the magazine “The Week.” This was the clue: “Thousands have died in this country’s 2011 uprising against the Assad regime.”
The other Daily Double was the last clue in the round. It was in Write Now!, and Dave found it. I haven’t seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I think Mr. Trebek sounded like “Hal” when he told Dave he found the Daily Double. Dave had moved up nicely to 11900, while Molly still trailed with 6800 and Dan still led with 14400. Dan wagered 2500 on this clue: “For a magazine story, this author of westerns once did his day’s writing on a traffic island on Sunset Blvd.” I’m not sure if I’d have gotten this one, as the clue was spoiled by a private tweet from a friend. Dave, sadly, missed it. Going into the final, then, he had 9400, Molly had 6800, and Dan had 14400.
The Final Jeopardy category was Ancient Weights and Measures, which naturally drew a laugh from Dave, as everything does. This was the clue: “The Hebrew word for this Biblical unit of measurement is Ammah, aptly meaning ‘elbow’ or ‘forearm.'” I guessed the right answer instantly, and my guess was bolstered by my knowledge as a nurse! Molly lost 6000. I’d have wagered 3200. Dave had it right and added 5001. I’d probably have wagered 600, because Dan would have to get it wrong anyway (or wager nothing) with Dave’s actual wager. Dan though, got it right, and added 4401. He is a giant-killer!
We’ll almost certainly see Dave and Jason Keller in the Tournament, and maybe they’ll play each other again! My Coryat today was 25400, my highest of the week.