Andy here, hoping everybody had an amazing Thanksgiving!
Jeanie wants me to remind everybody that Lucas, the alternate from her tape date last season, will be airing next Monday!
Today’s challengers: Joshua Bartlett and Mona Hatfield — Paul Nelson’s a 4-day champ with $48,900, going for Win #5! Will he get it?
J! round categories: DEAD, BUT VERY BUSY; STATE THE NATIONAL PARK; SONG BIRDS; ON THE BOOKSHELF; CEREMONIES; THE “GOLDEN” HOUR
Both Mona and and Joshua got off to an excellent start today on the buzzer! Joshua got to play the Daily Double as well, at the bottom of CEREMONIES! The scores were:
Joshua $2,800
Mona $1,600
Paul $0
His bet was $1,500. His clue: People brought before the Spanish Inquisition were sentenced at this public ceremony whose name mains “Act of Faith”. A very tough clue here, and Joshua’s incorrect guess put him at $1,300. That one deserves to go in Jeanie’s weekly poll!
At the end of 15 clues, we saw scores of:
Joshua $2,300
Mona $2,200
Paul $600
I did quite well in the DEAD BUT VERY BUSY category thanks to a question I wrote a few months back regarding high-earning dead celebrities at trivia! Money did quite well in the back half of the round, especially on STATE THE NATIONAL PARK! Paul was in third place going into Double Jeopardy!, but it also means he can start his hunting expedition at the start of the round if he wants!
Scores at the end of 30:
Mona $5,200
Joshua $4,300
Paul $2,800
DJ! Round categories: TOY STORY; THE DA VINCI CODE; BIG; YOU’VE GOT MALI; A HANSEATIC LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN; HANKS GIVING
Paul had his buzzer mojo, but a lot of wrong answers, early in the DJ! round — and he tried to hunt whenever he could. He missed by one, though, going to 1200 when it was under 1600 in TOY STORY, and it was Joshua who got the 1600 clue.
Scores:
Joshua $7,500
Mona $3,600
Paul $3,600
His bet was $2,000 and his clue: Founded in 1948, this company got its name from the sound a slingshot projectile made when hitting a target. His correct response put him to $9,500!
Mona was taking too much time to select her clues and I found myself cheering for the others for that reason! While Paul did go to a $400 clue at one point during his hunt, I think it might have just to get a feel for the category because his hunting resumed full bore thereafter! It did prove fruitful the final time, though, with the Daily Double at the bottom of A HANSEATIC LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN. The minute-to-go signal had been given, and the scores were:
Joshua $11,900
Paul $8,000
Mona $7,200
Paul’s bet: $1,000.
I ask: Why? Why do you spend all of your energy hunting all over the board for a Daily Double, find it when you need it, and don’t take advantage? It’s almost like he’s sitting there playing Russian Roulette!
His clue: The decline of the Hanseatic League was in part due to this devastating war that lasted from 1618 to 1648. His correct response put him at $9,000.
Paul got to see one more clue — a $1200 one — which he got, leading to scores going into Final of:
Joshua $11,900
Paul $10,200
Mona $7,200
FJ! category: NUTRITION
FJ! clue: The word coined for these substances in 1912 was meant to suggest they were essential to life & contained nitrogen
Mona 7200 – 4700 = 2500
Paul 10200 – 4200 = 6000
Joshua 11900 – 8501 = 3399
Even though it was a Triple Stumper, I really thought that was an excellent Final – just a little bit on the tough side.
And Paul, once again, survives. In my opinion, there’s absolutely no way this strategy will hold up for him in the Tournament of Champions.
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. Paul Nelson $54,900 (5 wins)
11. David Gard $84,700 (4 wins)
12. Dan McShane $62,001 (4 wins)
13. Patrick Morrison $80,701 (3 wins)
14. Francis Lansangan $78,401 (3 wins)
15. Matt Samberg $61,402 (3 wins)
—
16. Andy Baggarly $60,402 (3 wins)
17. Stephanie Fontaine $54,500 (3 wins)
18. Joey Falco $53,999 (3 wins)
19. Erin Zweiner $53,399 (3 wins)
20. Beau Henson $51,203 (3 wins)
21. Margaret Swanson $48,000 (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)
Paul goes for #6 tomorrow! See you then!