Andy here with Game 2 of the Teacher’s Tournament finals!
Scores after Game 1:
Colby Burnett $10,600
Michael Farabaugh $10,000
Kate Wilson $3,000
J! round categories: SCI. ABBREV.; DIFFERS BY A LETTER; LITERARY RELATIVES; THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONGS; NAME THAT U.S. CURRENCY NOTE
Kate seemed surprised that she knew the THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONGS $400 clue (“Born This Way”, “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich”). Colby got off to a slowish start this game as well; at the first break (following Michael getting credit for a previous neg), we had scores of:
Michael $2,600
Kate $2,200
Colby $1,000
I got the sense on social media this week that a lot of people seemed to take issue with Colby’s “mannerisms”. I personally disagree with those assessments, but what does everybody else think?
Kate got to face the round’s Daily Double under LITERARY RELATIVES $1,000 after Colby didn’t seem to want to play the category. The scores were:
Michael $4,600
Kate $3,200
Colby $2,800
Her bet was half her score, $1,600. Her clue: His mother, Charlotte Champe Stearns, was a poet & social worker. Forgetting about Stearns, her incorrect response put her at $1,600.
At the end of the J! round, we had scores of:
Michael $6,400
Colby $4,200
Kate $2,200
DJ! round categories: GIFTED & TALENTED; THE WAR OF …12; WORD ORIGINS; STATES BY LAKE; TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL; THE NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY
The first Daily Double came very early in the round, on the 5th clue at WORD ORIGINS $1,200
Scores:
Michael $7,600
Colby $5,000
Kate $2,600
Michael chose to bet $2,600 and Jimmy delivered the video clue: This term for the part of a fair or carnival where sideshows and other amusements are located comes from the site of an 1893 Expo held in Chicago. Michael gave an Atlantic City term and fell to $5,000.
Michael got the $1200 clue in STATES BY LIKE, went down one, and saw the final Daily Double on the 9th clue of the round! Scores at this point:
Michael $6,200
Colby $5,000
Kate $4,600
With 20 clues left, it’s difficult to pinpoint a good wager here, especially considering how the first two betting clues have played in this game thus far. Michael chose to just bet $1,200, though. His clue: Lake Bemidji, Bass Lake (a few dozen of those). His correct response put him at $7,400.
And Colby finally found his mojo. After the 12th clue of the round, the scores were:
Michael $8,600
Kate $5,800
Colby $5,000
Colby then proceeded to get the next 9 clues in a row, and 13 of the final 18 clues of the round, to turn this tournament on its ear!
The scores going into Final Jeopardy!:
Colby $20,600
Michael $8,600
Kate $5,000
Going over the strategy here, the best Michael can do here is $27,200 ($8,600 doubled + $10,000). Colby, between yesterday and today, has a total of $31,200, so he is guaranteed of winning the tournament as long as he bets $3,999 or less. Likewise, the best Kate can do is $13,000 in total ($5,000 doubled + $3,000); thus Michael is guaranteed second place with a bet of $5,599 or fewer.
FJ! category: THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
FJ! clue: Found in Article 3, Sec. 3, & requiring the testimony of 2 witnesses to prove, it’s the only crime defined in the Constitution
Kate 5000 + 5000 = 10000 (final total 13000)
Michael 8600 + 5500 = 14100 (final total 24100)
Colby 20600 – 1929 = 18671 (final total 29271)
Congratulations to Colby Burnett, who’ll be back for the Tournament of Champions! Alex announced that the tournament will be taking place in February! I’ll be back tomorrow to recap Paul’s fourth game!
Tournament of Champions update:
1. Monica Thieu $100,000 (College Champion)
2. Patrick Quinn $100,000 (Feb. 2012 Teacher’s Champion)
3. Colby Burnett $100,000 (Nov. 2012 Teacher’s Champion)
4. Jason Keller $213,900 (9 wins)
5. Keith Whitener $147,597 (7 wins)
6. Stephanie Jass $147,570 (7 wins)
7. Joel Pool $116,800 (6 wins)
8. Dave Leach $98,054 (6 wins)
9. David Menchaca $115,503 (5 wins)
10. David Gard $84,700 (4 wins)
11. Dan McShane $62,001 (4 wins)
12. Patrick Morrison $80,701 (3 wins)
13. Francis Lansangan $78,401 (3 wins)
14. Matt Samberg $61,402 (3 wins)
15. Andy Baggarly $60,402 (3 wins)
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16. Stephanie Fontaine $54,500 (3 wins)
17. Joey Falco $53,999 (3 wins)
18. Erin Zweiner $53,399 (3 wins)
19. Beau Henson $51,203 (3 wins)
20. Margaret Swanson $48,000 (3 wins)
21. Paul Nelson $45,400 (3 wins)
22. Claudia Gray $45,202 (3 wins)
23. Dan Adkison $37,400 (3 wins)
24. Jacob Silverman $35,998 (3 wins)
25. Jessamine Price $26,803 (3 wins)