Andy here, first with an apology, secondly with a pair of recaps.
First up: I tried something new trying to post this, and it didn’t exactly work. I won’t be trying that again!
Secondly: The Teacher’s Tournament is on!
The 15 players:
Eli Barrieau, Leominister, MA
Anne Baxter, Detroit, MI
Cathy Bloedorn, Ellicott City, MA
James Brown, El Paso, TX
Karen Cafaro, Laurinburg, NC
Patrick Dillon, Manhasset, NY
Becky Giardina, Waynesboro, GA
Mary Beth Hammerstrom, Anchorage, AK
Maryanne Lewell, Saint John, NB, Canada
Katie Moriarty, Wyoming, OH
John Pearson, Coppell, TX
Timothy Shuker-Haines, Williamstown, MA
Kati Sorenson, Elkhorn, NE
Michael Townes, Greenville, SC
Rico Vazquez, Elmhurst, IL
Rico Vazquez, Katie Moriarty, and Anne Baxter are Monday’s contestants! If you have any questions for Rico, ask them! Jeanie will be doing a Q & A with him!
J! round categories:
BIBLICAL WHO’S WHO
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION FILM!
ANAGRAMMED SCHOOL SUBJECTS
AWARDS & HONORS
STATE CAPITALS
CARBONATION NATION
Rico got the first clue, but then got into a rut. Anne and Katie got off to the best start over the first 15 clues! The scores at the end of 15:
Katie $3,400
Anne $2,800
Rico $800
Rico holds Ugly Shirt day on Thursday at his school — in that he picks out an ugly shirt to wear in class! Apparently that was the most asked question he’s had about his appearance! (I bet he would have had he played in the Thursday quarterfinal)
I bet that Anne could have a conversation with Maryanne from Saint John in French — New Brunswick is a bilingual province!
The first Daily Double was at the bottom of STATE CAPITALS, and it went to Anne! Scores were:
Katie $5,600
Anne $3,800
Rico $2,000
Anne bet all $3,800! (Good call!) Her clue: French-Canadian trappers named it for the tree-lined river that provided relief for those crossing the Snake River plain. After a very long time, Anne came up with the correct response to put her at $7,600!
At the end of 30, the scores were:
Anne $8,000
Katie $6,400
Rico $3,800
DJ! round categories:
LITERARY PRINCIPALS & TEACHERS
AMPHIBIANS
THOSE “R” THE TOP 10 HITS
OLD PAINT
IT’S ALL POLITICS
MORE VOWELS
THOSE “R” THE TOP 10 HITS $2000 was a Triple Stumper that I got (Jesus Jones, 1991)
The first Daily Double came under OLD PAINT $1600. It went to Katie! Scores:
Anne $8,800
Katie $8,800
Rick $5,800
Katie bet $3,000. Her clue: Here is a 1640 self-portrait by this Flemish man. Note the beard
The next Daily Double came up under IT’S ALL POLITICS $1200. Katie’s again, the scores were:
Katie $12,600
Anne $9,200
Rico $5,800
Katie bet $3,000 again. Her clue this time: In the late 1780s, fearing a strong central. govt., the anti-these opposed the adoption of the Constitution. Katie went for anti-ratifiers and fell to $9,600.
It felt as though Rico had a poor time of it in this round, he only got 2 correct responses in! Maybe an ugly shirt would have distracted his opponents! Anne and Katie had most of the buzzer mojo today…
Scores going into Final:
Anne $13,600
Katie $12,400
Rico $5,800
FJ! category: 2013 NEWSMAKERS
FJ! clue: The name of this woman who achieved a long-held goal in 2013 is a homophone of a word for a water nymph
Rico 5800 + 5600 = 11400
Katie 12400 + 4000 = 16400
Anne 13600 + 11201 = 24801
Anne Baxter is the first semifinalist!
Tuesday’s contestants: Kati Sorenson, Mary Beth Hammerstrom, and Patrick Dillon!
J! round categories:
GOING EMILY POST-AL
NOVELS BY CHARACTER
NUMBER, PLEASE
THAT’S TOTALLY HISTORICAL!
8-LETTER WORDS
THE RACE IS TO THE STRONG
This game started off pretty evenly; we saw NOVELS BY CHARACTER, GOING EMILY POST-AL, and some of NUMBER, PLEASE and THAT’S TOTALLY HISTORICAL! before the break!
Scores at the end of 15:
Patrick $2,600
Mary Beth $2,000
Kati $1,600
Mary Beth was originally a lawyer, but got into teaching after her brother, an English teacher, dragged her into a classroom and told her to teach his students how to argue!
Coming out of the break, it was Patrick who had the best time of it on the buzzer! Mary Beth took a few negs keeping her score down! The Daily Double went to Patrick at the bottom of NUMBER, PLEASE. Scores:
Patrick $5,600
Kati $2,800
Mary Beth $1,800
Patrick bet $1,400. His clue: Total cups in a gallon. His correct response put him at $7,000!
Scores at the end of 30:
Patrick $8,000
Kati $2,800
Mary Beth $2,600
DJ! round categories:
YOUR MYTHIC ABCs
TEACHING THE TEACHERS
QUOTABLE QUOTES
VOLCANOES
ACTORS PLAYING WRITERS
CROSSWORD CLUES “F”
The Daily Doubles came out early! YOUR MYTHIC ABCs $1600 had the first one and it went to Mary Beth! Scores:
Patrick $8,800
Mary Beth $3,800
Kati $3,600
Not the decision I would have made, but Mary Beth bet just $1,000. Her clue: C: This Greek sea monster is the personification of whirlpools. The K aside, Mary Beth went for Kraken, and fell to $2,800.
QUOTABLE QUOTES $1600 had the final Daily Double and it was Mary Beth’s as well. Scores:
Patrick $10,800
Mary Beth $4,800
Kati $3,600
Mary Beth went conservative here as well, betting just $2,000. Her clue: At the Brandenburg Gate in 1987, President Reagan gave “Mr. Gorbachev” this 4-word challenge. Mary Beth got this one to go to $6,800! However, her enunciation of the correct response led to Alex jibing her, suggesting she was on Wheel of Fortune!
Over the final 20 clues, Mary Beth managed to keep the negs at bay, and her score ballooned as a result! Patrick was up to the challenge, and his score did stay ahead! Kati was unfortunately left in the dust, with her score at $3,600 for most of the Double Jeopardy! round before she had a few gets at the end of it!
Scores going into Final:
Patrick $19,200
Mary Beth $15,200
Kati $4,400
FJ! category: HISTORIC OBJECTS
FJ! clue: In 1802, 3 years after it was discovered, it was moved to London under the terms of the surrender of Alexandria
Kati 4400 – 4001 = 399
Mary Beth 15200 + 4800 = 20000
Patrick 19200 + 7502 = 26702
Mary Beth has an excellent score for a Wild Card, Patrick is the second semifinalist!
Wild card standings:
Anne Baxter (Monday winner)
Patrick Dillon (Tuesday winner)
Mary Beth Hammerstrom $20,000
Katie Moriarty $16,400
Rico Vazquez $11,400
Kati Sorenson $399