An Early Christmas Gift

Andy here with the recap from Monday!

This week’s contestants:
Kathy Cacace – Brooklyn, NY (WABC)
Jon Choi – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (CHCH)
Bonita Dominguez – Surprise, AZ (KTVK)
Missy Flood – Groton, CT (WTNH)
Genevieve LeClerc – Lake Forest Park, WA (KOMO)
Kristina Lukach – Shrewsbury, MA (WBZ)
Anthony Niblett – Toronto, Ontario, Canada (CHCH)
Avram Polinsky – Columbia, MD (WBFF)
Jerry Slowik – Arlington Heights, IL (WLS)
Roxann Smith – Los Angeles, CA (KABC)
Larry White – Hatboro, PA (WPVI)

This will be my last recap before December 25th, so Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Today’s contestants:

J! round categories:
ANCIENT CHINESE EMPERORS
STREET SMARTS
IT’S MAGIC TIME
LATIN WORDS & PHRASES
GREETINGS FROM THE NORTH POLE
MERRY CHRIS

A few Triple Stumpers early on, but all 3 players had luck on the buzzer! After 15, the scores were:
Larry $2,000
Jon $1,600
Kristina $200

Jon spent a year trying to do 67 pull ups in one minute; he reached 35.

Larry played the first Daily Double about three quarters of the way through the round, under IT’S MAGIC TIME $600! Scores:
Larry $2,600
Jon $1,200
Kristina $600

Larry bet $2,000. His clue: Leonardo DiCaprio hosted a 1996 “street magic” TV special by this man now known for his endurance stunts. Larry’s correct response put him at $4,600.

A couple of clues went unplayed in the round; scores after the J! round were:
Larry $5,600
Kristina $2,200
Jon $1,200

DJ! round categories:
CHEESY COUNTRIES
DOUBLE “F”
MASTERS OF SAX
I AM SOMEBODY
SOLVE THE MYSTERY TITLE
RADIO ASTRONOMY

RADIO ASTRONOMY was a video category from the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia. Needless to say, the Daily Double was at the bottom of it! It was Larry’s to play, with scores of:

Larry $9,200
Kristina $2,200
Jon $1,600

Larry went for $5,000! His clue: In the last decade alone, Green Bank’s Byrd telescope has discovered more than 100 of these rapidly spinning stars that act like interstellar lighthouses, emitting strong bursts of radiation at regular intervals. Larry’s correct response gave him a commanding lead at $14,400!

SOLVE THE MYSTERY TITLE $1600 had the final Daily Double about halfway through the round, and it was Jon’s chance to catch up! Scores:

Larry $18,200
Jon $4,800
Kristina $1,800

Jon bet $1,000. WHY. His clue: By Kathy Reichs, “____ Are Forever” & “206 _____”. Jon said “Diamonds” and went to $3,800.

Needless to say, neither Jon nor Kristina were able to mount any sort of charge against Larry and Larry had a commanding runaway when the end of round signal came with a couple of clues to play!

Scores going into Final:
Larry $20,200
Jon $3,400
Kristina $2,200

FJ! category: PRESIDENTS & FILM

FJ! clue: Jimmy Carter held 480 screenings at the White House; his first was this film set in 1970s Washington, D.C.

(I didn’t get this one. I’m pretty sure that I would have gone for “Deep Throat” for the laughs had I been in Larry’s position).

Kristina 2200 – 2200 = 0
Jon 3400 + 1200 = 4600
Larry 20200 + 5000 = 25200

Larry’s the new champion; he’ll be back to defend on Christmas Eve! If you ask me, I really think he’ll have a good run!