Here we are. Will the Brad Rutter-esque A.J. Motley (I think it’s the voice) make it three today, thus altering the ToC list for the worse? A.J. and his challengers:
 |
| A.J. Motley of Wylie, TX |
 |
| Brian Mueller of Fountain City, WI |
 |
| Liza Veeneman of Aliso Viejo, CA |
Liza, by the way, is answering questions for the blog. So if you have any, please leave a comment! And come back tomorrow for Lynn Welch‘s Q & A.
One more thing – I can’t resist showing you that Ernest Nino-Murcia continues to benefit from his own J! appearance. Go, Ernest!
A.J. started out hot today, getting 4/5 in TV Businesses. I swept Gumbo, luckily because I couldn’t figure out the significance of the category name.
No one had any negs yet at the first break! A.J. and Brian had each gotten 6 right and had 3600 and 2200, respectively. Liza had gotten 3 right and had 2000.
Liza talked about hiking in the Grand Canyon. I found her because of her hiking prowess, in fact. Look: She moved to Aliso Viejo for the hiking!
Talk about Great Beginnings: Liza went to Agatha Christie Books when she had the chance, and she got what I thought were a couple of toughies there like “library” and “pigeon.” I went to a used book sale today. I cleaned up, but I tend to steer clear of fiction. I can’t help but wonder if my Coryat would’ve been higher today had I at least looked at mysteries. (Has anyone read either the books of Nero Blanc or Parnell Hall? I checked one of each out this past week, inspired by my crossword puzzle work/play. I started and won’t finish Nero Blanc’s, and I haven’t started Parnell Hall’s. And after today’s sale, I think it’ll be a while!)
Liza got 4 in a row, in fact, before finding the Daily Double of the round. She had the lead, then, at 5200. She wagered 2000 on this clue in Great Beginnings: “Following a crisis earlier in the decade, this cabinet department was created August 4, 1977.” I got this one, but she didn’t.
I also got this triple-stumper in It’s the Truth, but I can see how Liza would’ve guessed “1 and 2”: “The different integer values of the square root of 144.” She bounced back by getting this one in the same category: “Printed by the GPO & also available on the Internet, it’s the daily record of House & Senate.”
All right, this was the next clue:
What was Mr. Trebek thinking, accepting “megaphone” at first? He even appeared to be reading his paper when he said it. I almost think he did it on purpose.
Each contestant had one neg since Liza’s Daily Double when the round ended. A.J. and Brian each had gotten 3 right and had 5600 and 3600, respectively. Liza had gotten 2 right and had 3600. And silly Mr. Trebek just had to get one more stint in:
Did the bullhorn bring this to anyone else’s mind?
Brian found the first Daily Double of the round, in Newspapers by Country. He had gotten 2 right in the round and had 4800. A.J. had gotten one right and had 6000. Brian wagered 1200 on this clue: “Het Laatste Nieuws, La Nouvelle Gazette.” Brian got it quickly, but it would’ve taken me more time and several guesses.
Now then, yesterday we started talking about memorable contestant interviews. (See the comments.) Today, is this the most embarrassing contestant moment ever? Debatable? (By the way, Brian had gotten 3 right and A.J. had gotten one wrong since Brian’s last Daily Double.) Since I’m on a roll:
Ay ay ay. (So people will find this entry if they search: Figaro. The Barber of Seville. There.)
I swept Kathy Bates Gone Wild.
There were 6 clues left on the board when Mr. Trebek gave the less-than-a-minute warning. Three were left covered. Brian ended the round with 8600. He’d gotten 7 right and 2 wrong since his second Daily Double. Liza had 6400, having gotten 2 wrong and 4 right. A.J. had 13200. He’d gotten 6 right.
The Final Jeopardy category was British History. This was the clue: “This appointed position first held by John Dryden echoes a ‘versificator regis’ of Richard I in the 12th century.” “John Dryden” should’ve handed the contestants the correct response on a platter. It did for me. I then thought it was a good time to get dinner ready to eat while I blogged. I stood frozen, watching breathlessly from the kitchen. Only Liza got a correct response. I wasn’t crazy about her wager or Brian’s (everything, in both cases). A.J. needed to neg for Liza to win. He lost 4601. (Why didn’t he just wager 4001, by the way? With that wager and a wrong response, he’d still have less than Brian if Brian had wagered nothing. Maybe he meant 4599? But still…?)
Anyway, the ToC list remains untouched, but not for long, I know.
My Coryat today: 18800 (25400 without negs).