Hello! Andy here with the recap of the April 1 episode! Should be interesting to see what the April Fools joke is this year!
Jeanie has a poll for you coming up later this week for all former contestants: If you knew going in how long your time on the show would last (and how much you would win), would you play again? Think about that! She’ll post later this week…
This week’s contestants:
Scott Brill, Shelton, CT
Salvo Candela, New York, NY
Jim Craner, Riverton, IL
Tara Curcio, Medford, NJ
Eric Nelson, Minneapolis, MN
Katie Newcomb, Washington, DC
Lisa Sotir Ozkan, Arlington, VA
Rebecca Rider, Fresh Meadows, NY
Alex Stoy, Tarzana, CA
Shawn Townsend, Brentwood, TN
Emily Vandermeulen, Owen Sound, ON, Canada
Wow, Owen Sound. That’s impressive. (Owen Sound is a city of about 20,000-30,000 about 80-90 miles north of where I am.)
Onto Monday’s show – Alex Stoy and Jim Craner are the challengers for Rebecca Rider. Will Rebecca make it 3 wins?
Trebek (I’ll use “Trebek” today to avoid confusion with Alex Stoy) says right off the top “we have no April Fool’s Day jokes or tricks to play on you today”. Boo!
J! round categories:
GIRTH OF A NATION
THANK “Q” VERY MUCH
PAPER
GOOD EATS
THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
& HERE’S YOUR HOST…
Alex got off to the best start and on the 15th clue of the round, at the bottom of GIRTH OF A NATION, he got to play the first Daily Double! Scores at this point were:
Alex $4,000
Jim $1,600
Rebecca $1,600
Personally? I’d be betting all $4,000 in Alex’s shoes here. If you happen to get the question wrong, you get a chance to regroup over the break. If you happen to get it right, it sends your two opponents into a panic going into the break.
Alex bet $1,500. His clue: 5,108 miles of border, all with China and Russia. I got it immediately; so did Alex. His score went to $5,500 at the first break.
Rebecca’s apartment is decorated with all sorts of women’s basketball memorabilia! Both pro and college!
Coming out of the break, it seemed as though Rebecca got her buzzer mojo going, whereas Alex didn’t ring in that much. I might have missed something, but it felt to me as though Alex only rang in twice over the second 15 clues (one $1,000 neg, one $1,000 get)! Meanwhile, Rebecca stormed back to take the lead! Scores at the end of 30:
Rebecca $6,000
Alex $5,500
Jim $3,200
DJ! round categories:
SHAKESPEAREAN PREQUELS?
DISNEY MOVIES BY SONG
15 LETTERS OR MORE
SOCIOLOGY
BORN IN THE 1400s
THE “EL” YOU SAY
Jim picked up $3,600 in THE “EL” YOU SAY and then picked up the first two clues in 15 LETTERS OR MORE, prior to getting the Daily Double at the $1200 slot there! Scores were:
Jim $8,000
Alex $7,100
Rebecca $6,800
Jim bet $2,000. His clue: Drawn only partly from Hemingway’s own experiences, “A Farewell To Arms” is described as this 20-letter type of novel. I came up with a 20-letter word; as did Jim! We both gave the same, and correct one! Jim moved to $10,000. I only ended up with a modicum of pride.
Not sure why the judges originally accepted “bioluminescent” in a “15 LETTERS OR MORE” category as that’s only 14 letters long! They did make that correction once it came around, though, to the second Daily Double.
SOCIOLOGY $800 had that second Daily Double, and Jim got to play it! After Jim lost the money from “bioluminescent”, the scores sat at:
Rebecca $14,800
Jim $10,000
Alex $7,900
Jim bet $2,000. His clue: “Counterculture” was a term popularized by Theodore Roszak to describe this decade’s revolt against authority. His instant correct response put him to $12,000. I feel as though Jim left some money on the table, though!
Alex seemed to lose it after his great start, a couple of late negs brought his score down further! By the end of the Double Jeopardy! round, the scores were:
Rebecca $19,200
Jim $16,800
Alex $4,300
FJ! category: STATE MOTTOS
FJ! clue: On a state seal since 1850, this one-word motto is found in a story about Archimedes
Alex 4300 + 4200 = 8500
Jim 16800 – 8000 = 8800
Rebecca 19200 + 14600 = 33800
I may have pre-called this Final from the category alone! Trebek says Rebecca wagers well. Can I get some of what he had before this episode? Rebecca’s a 3-day champion, though, with $80,200 in winnings!
ToC update:
1. Drew Horwood $138,100 (8 wins)
2. Joshua Brakhage $103,205 (5 wins)
3. Rebecca Rider $80,200 (3 wins)
4. Sara Garnett $75,403 (3 wins)
I’ll be back tomorrow with another recap. See you then!