Lots of news today, and I’m feeling overwhelmed by this busy bloggin’ weekend. First: See my interview with Kate Mosesso after this recap. I expect to publish an interview with Julie Bratvold Ghanbari soon, and I’m interviewing both Leo and Lori from today’s episode, as well as Alison from tomorrow’s. Last but not least when it comes to interviews, Judy Nichols tells me she has a new book out, so I’ll be interviewing her about that sometime soon, too.
And as if that weren’t enough, next week begins the Summer Hiatus Challenge on the Jeopardy! message boards. (Yes, a week early.) Andy and I will be covering as many champs and other notables as we can find (and that say yes). 😉 This time we’ll be updating every day, and we’re including expired questions, too. (Thank you, “Dad of Twins“!) The sign-up thread goes up this weekend, so that’ll keep me hoppin’ too.
I’m going home for the first time in a while this weekend, so I’ll have tons of weekend J! reruns to catch up on, and a few GSN ones. This stuff makes the weekly poll seem like no big deal!
All that said, I had kind of a lot on my mind during today’s episode. I sort of expected as cruddy a day as I had with my crossword puzzles. So how’d everybody do? Today’s contestants:
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| Doug Thornton of Chesterfield, VA |
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| Leo Lopez of Brooklyn, NY (He’s a psychiatrist!) |
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| Lori Hohenleitner of Atlantic Highlands, NJ |
Since, as mentioned, I’m interviewing Lori and Leo, I hoped they’d tie for a win today. 😛
Leo found the first Daily Double in Shakespeare. He, like Doug, had answered 2 right and had 600. Lori had answered 1 right and had 200. Leo wagered 1000 on this clue: “Shakespeare’s 37 plays are traditionally classified into 3 groups: comedies, tragedies, & these.” I came up with this one in the nick of time, but Leo had no trouble.
Lori, though, answered the next 6 right. She got 4/5 in Stupid Answers: Movies, and Mr. Trebek complimented her. I went 3/5 with one neg (said “Winter” like Leo). I’m glad I didn’t see a Stupid Answers category on my episode. Lori, then, answered 7 correctly since Leo’s Daily Double and had 5200 at the first break. Leo had answered 2 correctly but missed 2, and had 1200.
I swept Do You Know the “Ling”o? before Mr. Trebek gave the less-than-a-minute warning with 6 clues left. We did see them all. Doug did well in The Civil War by the Numbers, getting 8 right and 1 wrong since the break and giving him 5000. Lori too had 5000, having gotten 1 right and 1 wrong. Leo had 4400 after getting 4 right.
I negged on the first clue of the round, but I got the next 14 right, including the Daily Double in Biblical Wifery. Lori found that one. She’d gotten 2 right in the round and had 6600. Leo had gotten 8 right and had 11600. Dough had gotten 2 right and had 8200. Lori wagered 2500 on this clue: “Laban promises this daughter to Jacob as a wife but substitutes Leah for her at the last minute.” Lori got it right, too.
I swept Celebrity Rhyme Time, which included this triple-stumper: “TV judge Simon’s wooden rods or pins.” I also swept Lesser-Known Greeks & Romans?, though I didn’t pronounce this response like Leo did: “Whenever he was around, people’s ears would start to ring.” I’ve never heard it pronounced that way, in fact, but Mr. Trebek said he pronounced it correctly!
Like Lori, I said “riverboat” on this clue in Transportation: “Built in 1914, the Belle of Louisville is the oldest continually operating one of these on an American river.” Then Doug said “paddle wheel,” and Mr. Trebek said “paddle wheeler or steamboat” and counted Doug right! ?!
Mr. Trebek gave the one-minute warning with one category, Barons & Baronesses, remaining. Doug seemed to look for the Daily Double, and he needed it – neither he nor Lori had more than half Leo’s amount. He did find it, with 3 clues left after that and, as noted, time running out. Doug had gotten 3 right and 1 wrong since Lori’s Daily Double, and had 9000. Lori had gotten 1 wrong and had 7900. Leo had gotten 6 right and 1 wrong and had 19600. So Doug wagered 7000 on this clue: “Rudolf Erich Raspe wrote a 1785 booklet of tall tales about him; the real baron disapproved.” I didn’t get it but Doug did! Lori clapped and said “Awesome.” Yeah, that helped her too! The next clue was a triple-stumper, and the last 2 remained covered.
The Final Jeopardy category was Opera. This was the clue: “The swan boats in Boston’s public garden were inspired by this opera in which a swan pulls a boat on the Scheldt river.” This is the most painful final for me in recent memory. As noted here before, I’ve been to Neuschwanstein, masterpiece of King Ludwig II. I knew this was related and thought it began with an “l,” but I thought I must be thinking of Ludwig and tossed that notion. I even knew it was Wagner but didn’t come up with it in time, and there is no excuse, all that said. It was a triple-stumper. Lori lost 2100. Doug lost 15000. Leo lost 12401, but it’s enough for a win. So will he win tomorrow and kick off season 29? We’ll find out! And on we go.
I guess I needn’t have worried I’d have a rough outing: My Coryat was 32200 (35000 without negs). Recent Coryats:
originally 10-31-08: 22600 (27800 without negs)
originally 11-3-08: 24600 (29400 without negs)
originally 11-4-08: 20400 (26000 without negs)
originally 11-5-08: 25000 (28200 without negs, one of which was accidentally saying “Be Our Guest” instead of “Beauty and the Beast,” even though I’m very familiar with the movie! Also, I should’ve swept Bodies of Water but I clammed on two of ’em.)
Now for my Q and A with Kate Mosesso!
Q: Where was your in-person audition?
Kate: I auditioned in Washington, DC. There was no Chicago audition, so I picked DC because my parents live there.
Q: Did
you stay for the rest of the day? Also, if you taped on Wednesday, were you there the previous day?
Kate: I did not stay after taping my episode and I’m as interested as you are to see how far Andy goes! It was such a long day on Tuesday and I was pretty drained after the taping. Yes, I sat there ALL DAY on Tuesday. (The other unlucky contestant was Prudence Plunkett.) That was tough. Just a long day and a lot of anxiety and then having to go back to the hotel and get ready to do it all again….yuck. That was probably the worst part of the experience, but what can you do?
Q: Can you tell me a little about this CWIP and your involvement in it? I think that’s how I found you.
Kate: CWIP is Chicago Women in Publishing, a local group that I joined about a year ago. As Johnny Gilbert stated, I am an attorney, but I am hoping to make a transition into editorial work (returning to my roots as an English major at the University of Notre Dame). CWIP has been a wonderful resource for me. The group offers networking events and career development seminars and has helped me to meet people in the industry, learn about the types of publishing jobs available in Chicago, and narrow the focus of my job search. I’ve recently begun doing some freelance copyediting work and hope to find a full-time editorial job soon.
Q: Anything else you’d like to say?
Kate: It’s so much harder than it looks! It doesn’t matter how many answers you know- your opponents probably know them too, and beating them to the buzzer is very hard to master. You just can’t get too worked up about it- it was still so much fun.
Thank you, Kate!