Andy here with the recaps from a pair of semifinals! Before we get to that, Opening Day for LearnedLeague 57 was on Monday, and Jeanie has begun this season as a rookie! I’m sure she’ll talk about that some more during her blogs! I’m happy with how I’ve done thus far in B Highland; I’m 1-1, and my one loss was to an opponent who got all 6 questions right on Opening Day!
First up – Monday!
Trevor Walker, Daniel Donohue, and Hannah Shoenhard are your first semifinalists!
J! round categories:
PACK 12
SAME VOWEL WORDS
TALES OF HIGH ADVENTURE
ALL THE SINGLE LADIES
THE 2012 TEAM MVP
YOU DID BAD
The leftmost three categories were the three taken before the first break! It was very equal amongst all three players – Hannah and Trevor picking up 5 clues apiece, and Daniel 4. The scores were:
Trevor $2,400
Hannah $2,200
Daniel $2,000
Trevor learned how to knit on the Internet; he uses it as a way of relieving stress!
The first Daily Double came out under YOU DID BAD $800. Hannah got to play it, and the scores were:
Daniel $4,600
Hannah $3,800
Trevor $2,400
Hannah bet $1,000. Her clue: This term for exclusion from a group goes back to temporary banishment in ancient Greece. Her guess wasn’t correct, and her score fell to $2,800.
A couple of Triple Stumpers which disappointed me: THE 2012 TEAM MVP $800 (2nd baseman Dustin “Muddy Chicken” Pedroia) and $1000 (Goalie “King Henrik” Lundqvist (& it’s not the L.A. Kings!))
At the end of 30, the scores were:
Daniel $6,200
Hannah $2,400
Trevor $2,400
DJ! Round categories:
CNN TOURISM
ALL UP IN YOUR BUSINESS
SIDEKICKS
THE 17th CENTURY
2 ANIMALS IN ONE
YOU DID GOOD
The Daily Doubles came out quickly; first up was at the bottom of THE 17th CENTURY. Hannah played it, with the following scores:
Daniel $5,400
Hannah $4,000
Trevor $2,400
She bet the clue value of $2,000. Her clue: In the painting seen here, this Dutch artist portrayed another girl with a pearl earring — possibly his daughter. A correct response put her at $6,000.
The final Daily Double came in at 2 ANIMALS IN ONE $1600, on the round’s 14th clue. This one was Trevor’s, and came after he’d finally had luck on the buzzer again and had been getting in quite a bit! The scores were:
Daniel $8,200
Trevor $8,000
Hannah $6,000
Trevor bet $2,000. His clue: This little rodent hops on its hind legs, just like its namesake marsupial. His correct response put him in the lead with $10,000!
A key neg at ALL UP IN YOUR BUSINESS $2000 by Daniel: This electronics firm was named for a certain quality of a mechanical pencil invented by its founder. Daniel said “Microsoft” and lost $2,000 for it!
Scores going into Final:
Trevor $19,600
Daniel $11,000
Hannah $5,200
FJ! category: AUTHORS IN THE NEWS
FJ! clue: When curiosity touched down on Mars in 2012, its landing site was named in honor of this author who died weeks before
Hannah 5200 + 0 = 5200
Daniel 11000 – 10998 = 2
Trevor 19600 – 2401 = 17199
Trevor Walker is the first finalist!
Moving onto Tuesday, your second set of semifinalists are:
Jed Silver, Cindy Cammarn, and Kristen Jolley
J! round categories:
WORLD ATHLETES
PROFESSORS
ON THE MAP
THE CRACKER BARREL
“P”ROVERBS
THE YOGI BEARS
A tough clue, but I still got it, under WORLD ATHLETES $1000: Nicknamed “Geno”, this Pittsburgh Penguins center led the NHL with 109 points in the 2011-12 season. Jed went for Sidney Crosby…
Jed did have the most luck buzzing in early on, but he took a number of negs that kept his score down! Nonetheless, he found the first Daily Double, on the 14th clue of the round, under ON THE MAP $400. Scores were:
Cindy $1,200
Kristen $800
Jed $200
Jed bet $1,000. His clue: They’re the 2 large peninsulas that nearly enclose the Gulf of Mexico. Jed gave “Baja California” for the second one, and fell to $-800, which was his score at the first break!
Jed was on the Tufts Muggle Quidditch team which came 2nd to traditional power Middlebury in 2010!
Cindy is a movie buff who has seen all of the Bond movies, in order! Her favourite Bond is still Sean Connery, which impressed Alex Trebek none, for obvious reasons…
Kristen is a relative of Linus Pauling (she didn’t say how close the relation was, though!)
In the back half of the round, there were plenty of negs; 6 combined amongst the three players, keeping the scores down for all three players!
Scores at the end of 30:
Kristen $2,600
Cindy $2,600
Jed $600
DJ! round categories:
AMERICA AFTER THE REVOLUTION
NEWSWORDY
SHAKESPEARE
6-LETTER WORDS
BIOLOGY 101
I GOT MAD HIP-HOP SKILLZ
BIOLOGY 101 at $1600 had the first Daily Double in this round. It was Kristen’s, and the scores were:
Kristen $3,000
Cindy $2,600
Jed $600
Kristen decided to make it a True Daily Double! Her clue: The green pigment necessary for photosynthesis is contained in these bodies within a plant’s cells.. Her correct response doubled her score to $6,000!
I GOT MAD HIP-HOP SKILLZ $800 sent Kristen into giggles: (in “Who Am I?”: “Bow wow wow, yippee yo, yippie yay, bow wow wow yippie yo (the bomb)”). She said “you did it great!” to Alex…
Kristen’s score got as high as $11,200, but a pair of negs brought her much closer to both of her competitors! Jed also found some good gets to bring his score up! Finally, the last Daily Double came out, under AMERICA AFTER THE REVOLUTION $1600. It was Cindy’s to play, and the scores were:
Kristen $9,200
Cindy $8,600
Jed $5,800
She bet $2,000. Her clue: In this 1797 affair French agents demanded the U.S. loan France $10 million before our diplomats could meet Talleyrand. Cindy went for “ABC” and her score fell to $6,600. She did get the money back on the next clue, though.
Surprisingly, nobody rang in on the final NEWSWORDY $2000 clue (Change the last syllable in “thunderstorm” to get this weather event that hit the Great Plains in winter 2013), even though it meant the lead!
Scores going into Final:
Kristen $9,200
Cindy $8,600
Jed $7,400
FJ! category: MODERN-DAY CHINA
FJ! clue: Because Internet censors block mentions of this 1989 date, Chinese bloggers write it as “535”
Jed 7400 -1801 = 5599
Cindy 8600 – 8599 = 1
Kristen 9200 – 1799 = 7401
Jed said his number after June was going to be a 5, so it ended up not mattering for him, but a curious wager from Kristen meant that she ends up on top after the Triple Stumper and will be the second finalist? Who will join them? Come back tomorrow!