Yes, Andy did say yesterday he was here all week. That was the plan! But I was called off work this evening and offered to pick it up, and here I am.
Two recent Coryats to report:
originally 1-5-09: 24000 (28200 without negs)
originally 1-6-09: 27400 (30400 without negs)
Today’s contestants:
 |
| David Schuman of Ardsley NY (Whoa whoa whoa, how tall is this guy?) |
 |
| Erin Zwiener of Abiquiu NM |
 |
| Sophie Hill of Coronado CA (She looks a little like Julianne Moore.) |
Mr. Trebek kicked off today’s show by describing yesterday’s as “so exciting.” Would today’s be just as much so?
My pleasure from the unexpected chance to blog turned to pain as the clues rolled in. I negged on the first two and clammed on the third, all in It’s All Greek Letters to Me. I wound up going up 0/5 in the category, but didn’t neg again in it. Andy must’ve appreciated this one in that category: “This Greek letter seen here sure marks the spot for Scrabble players.”
I don’t know about you but I don’t know what this means.
At the first break, Erin had gotten 6 right and 2 wrong, and had 800. Sophie had gotten 3 right and had 2600. David had gotten 4 right and had 2000. This illustrates so beautifully how critical is to avoid negging where possible. David and Sophie each had their first neg though, right after their interviews. How tough was that Composers’ Country of Birth category? Four were triple-stumpers! I too was 1/5. Erin was 1000 in the hole at the end of it. She went to a 1000 clue next.
I swept and Billboard’s Top Money Makers of 2011 before the round was over, which means I got these two triple-stumpers in the latter: “No. 9 with $13 million, he made the country charts his ‘kinda party.'” And “We like ‘The Sweetest Taboo’ too, but were still surprised to see this 1-named singer at no. 6.”
David found the Daily Double of the round in Tax-onomy. He had 3200, having gotten 3 right and 1 wrong since the break. Sophie had 2200. She’d gotten 2 right and 2 wrong. Erin’s total was -1800. She’d gotten 3 wrong. David wagered 1300 on this clue: “If you’ve owned property for more than a year & sell it for a profit, you’ll owe the long-term type of this tax.” I said what David did, which was wrong. That was a correct response a few clues later though: “Death duty is another name for this type of tax.”
Mr. Trebek gave the less-than-a-minute warning after David’s Daily Double, with 5 clues left. Sophie got three of those right, David got one of them, and the last one stayed hidden. Erin was in the hole 1800 then at the end of the round, while David had 2300 and Sophie had 4200.
Sophie found the first Daily Double of the Jeopardy round, in Phoenix. She’d gotten 2 right and 2 wrong since the break, and had 5000. Erin had gotten 2 wrong and 1 right, and was in the hole 2600! She’d been as low as -4600. David had gotten 6 right, 4 in These Puns Are Offal, and 2 wrong. He had 6700. Sophie wagered 2500 on this clue: “A gallery in Phoenix’ Heard Museum is named for this Supreme Court justice who worked in Phoenix in the 1970s.” She and I got it right.
I swept the easy Daytime Soaps for Short, including this triple-stumper at the last second: “In the 1960s Agnes Nixon was its head writer: GL.” Erin got 3 right, and managed to get out of the hole at long-last!
When there were 6 clues left, Mr. Trebek said after a correct response from David, “Not too many clues left up there, David,” almost as a reminder that there was a Daily Double still there! David went for a 400 clue though. Like the last round, there were 5 clues left on the board when the less-than-a-minute warning was given. The next clue was the Daily Double, which Sophie found in The Admirals Club. She’d gotten 3 right since the last Daily Double and had 10300. Erin had gotten 4 right and had 3400. David had gotten 2 right and 1 wrong, and had 6700. What would you have wagered? If Sophie wagered 3100, she’d have more than twice what David does if right and still more than he did if wrong. She’d also have more than twice what Erin did. Sophie wagered 3000 on this clue: “This admiral was nicknamed the ‘Hero of Manila.'” She did not have a response.
There was one clue left on the board when the round ended. David had gotten one clue right and one wrong since Sophie’s Daily Double, and had 6300. Sophie had gotten one right and had 8100. Erin still had 3400. Now how would you wager? I might’ve wagered 4501 if I were Sophie, and 2700 if I were David. I might’ve wagered just 200 if I were Erin.
The Final Jeopardy category was The Bible, which reminded me of this fiasco a few months back. Would this one go any better? Not for me: “This term for a final resting place got its name because clay was dug up there for craftsmen.” Upon revelation, pardon the offal pun, of the correct response, I didn’t feel as bad – I’d never have gotten this. None of the contestants did either. Erin and David each lost 2000. Sophie lost 4000. I don’t know why she chose that wager. Anyway David did the math quickly: You could see his hand turn palm up next to Sophie just after her wager was revealed. He is our new champ, then.
My Coryat today was 21400; 26800 without negs.