So will big Ben Ingram win for the second time today? (Notice he left a comment here yesterday!) Mr. Trebek opened the show by saying Ben had played “extremely well,” and wondered whether Ben would still be the champ on the 4th of July.
Let’s get it on.
Ben
Sandra Ferkol
Dan Weber
Since reader Ursula is overseas and would rely on this blog to keep up with the show, I’m going to try something Andy suggested to me a while back, and something he does himself: make it a little easier to tell how much money contestants have at Daily Doubles and the Final. I hope you like this new format.
Sandra found the first Daily Double of the round in Genesis. It was the last clue before the first break. Add her to the list of extremely. Slow. Contestants. Selecting. Responding. Relating her anecdote for Mr. Trebek. I couldn’t listen to it the second time through the show. Mr. Trebek said “I won’t ask you what happened.” Probably because it’s not an hour-long show. (Was Sandra absent for the contestant coordinators’ spiel?) For kicks I watched her Howdy. Slow there too.
Ben 3400 (5 right)
Dan -800 (1 right and 1 wrong)
Sandra 4200 (7 right)
Sandra wagered just 500 (How did she choose that wager? And this was a category she seemed to like.) This was the clue: “This man gets very good advice: ‘Escape for thy life; look not behind thee.” She and I got it right. What a wasted opportunity for Sandra.
Ben says he wants to see all presidential birthplaces and burial sites. Does he know Gerald Ford was born in Omaha?
Just before Sandra selected, this time Mr. Trebek said she was playing “extremely well.”
Poor Dan negged on this one in In the Big Inning: “In the course of pitching one of these gems in 1996, Al Leiter hurled a 3-pitch inning — beat that!” I got this one right, but I think if Dan should’ve said “no-hitter” if he were to guess, because likely would’ve been asked to be more specific. “Perfect game” is definitely wrong.
Mr. Trebek gave the less-than-a-minute warning with 7 clues left.
I said “corset” for this one in Underwear, and counted it as a neg: “In 2011 Madonna’s black one of these one-piece garments, a bra & waist cincher combo, sold for $72,000 at auction.” Dan got this right!
There were 3 clues left at the end of the round. These were the scores:
Ben 5800 (5 right again)
Dan 1000 (3 right and 1 wrong)
Sandra 6100 (4 right and 1 wrong)
Ben got the first 3 clues right in the round before finding the Daily Double in Newspapers.
Ben 9000
Dan 1000
Sandra 6100
Ben wagered 2900 on this clue: “In 1946 financier Eugene Meyer turned over the operations of this newspaper to his son-in-law Philip Graham.” Ben got it right! I wonder how he knew this. I said “Wall Street Journal.”
I was as proud of getting this right as I am to say I’ve never seen this show, in The TV Family’s Oldest Child: “The Bundys on ‘Married…with Children.'”
Dan found the next Daily Double in Animals on the Map.
Ben 14300 (4 right and 1 wrong)
Dan 8200 (5 right and 1 wrong)
Sandra 8100 (3 right and 1 wrong)
Mr. Trebek said Dan is “certainly and clearly within reach of the lead.” Dan wagered 6100 on this easy clue: “In 1982 this archipelago off Africa’s northwest coast became an autonomous region of Spain.” Dan smiled in recognition as the clue was being read. He got it, of course.
There were 5 clues left when Mr. Trebek gave the less-than-a-minute warning. One clue was left covered, but 2 clues were triple-stumpers. Dan lost 2000 on one of those. 🙁
Ben 18300 (5 right)
Dan 10700 (1 right and 2 wrong)
Sandra 10500 (4 right and one wrong)
The Final Jeopardy category was The Ancient World. This was the clue: “The area that the people of ancient Rome called this was their city’s equivalent of the Greek agora.” My knee-jerk reaction was this was easy, yet I couldn’t come up with the word. Sandra got it right and added 6000. Dan got it too and doubled his score. My knee-jerk reaction to that? “Thanks, Dan.” Ben got it right too and added 3101! We’ll see him tomorrow! Vamos!
My Coryat today was 27800 (29400 without negs).
So will big Ben Ingram win for the second time today? (Notice he left a comment here yesterday!) Mr. Trebek opened the show by saying Ben had played “extremely well,” and wondered whether Ben would still be the champ on the 4th of July.
