What They Called The Game Of Death

Andy here with the final recap of this week! (No pictures today, though.)

We have Bob Verini, Jerome Vered, and Tom Cubbage competing for the final spot from the 1980s in the final million dollar tournament!

J! round categories:
MYTH DIAGNOSIS
STOCK SYMBOLS
ARCHIPELAGOS
NOTABLE NAMES
THE T IS SILENT
’80s ACTORS & ROLES

Jerome seemed flustered, as evidenced by the opening clue (NOTABLE NAMES $200): Before become Secretary of State in 1997, she was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Jerome’s neg on that clue seemed to throw him off considerably! Meanwhile, Bob and Tom both got off to a strong start!

STOCK SYMBOLS $600 had the Daily Double, and it was Jerome’s to play. Scores:
Tom $2,000
Bob $1,800
Jerome $600

Jerome bet $1,000. His clue: This verb is the 3-letter stock symbol for Sotheby’s. Jerome said “BUY” and fell to -$400. (I also said BUY.)

At the first break, the scores sat at:
Tom $2,000
Bob $1,800
Jerome -$400

Bob recalled fondly having 5,000 people chant his name at the Million Dollar Masters tournament, even though he missed the True Daily Double at the end of that event!

Bob has his fans in the Twittersphere, too:

Jerome had his eyes set on a Steinway piano, which ended up being sold to The Edge before Jerome could buy it after the Ultimate Tournament of Champions. Jerome ended up with a different piano!

Tom’s got 5 kids and they don’t recognize Tom from videos of his original appearances!

Back to the game, there were a few Triple Stumpers, but Bob and Tom kept their lead together against Jerome! Scores after 30:

Bob $5,800
Tom $2,600
Jerome $1,000

DJ! round categories:
1980s BOOKS
PHYSICS
FIRST LADIES’ FATHERS
“DUM” IT UP
NO LONGER AROUND
SONG OF THE YEAR

Jerome started straight out in FIRST LADIES’ FATHERS, but Bob went over to 1980s BOOKS as soon as he took control. The middle clue had the Daily Double! Scores:

Bob $7,800
Tom $2,600
Jerome $1,400

After nearly being goaded into a True Daily Double, Bob bet $3,000. His clue: Drug-fueled debauchery in New York City takesup much of this Jay McInerney debut novel. $10,800 became Bob’s score after his correct response!

Jerome got to play the final Daily Double after taking second place from Tom! It was under FIRST LADIES’ FATHERS $2000! Scores:

Bob $10,800
Jerome $6,600
Tom $3,800

Jerome bet $3,000. His clue: William Bolling, a Virginia judge. Jerome went for “Elizabeth Monroe”, lamenting “we were just talking about that earlier” as his score fell to $3,600. His calling of “DUM IT UP” made the crowd laugh!

From there, the game seemed to turn Tom’s way, as he had some excellent buzzer mojo! He nearly took over the lead by the time the round ended!

Some lamentations about one of the NO LONGER AROUND clues:

Scores going into Final:

Bob $14,000
Tom $13,000
Jerome $8,400

FJ! category: WORLD POLITICS

FJ! clue: When these 2 swapped jobs in 2012, their country’s media described the move as “castling”

Jerome 8400 + US1600 = 10000
Tom 13000 + 3801 = 16801
Bob 14000 – 12001 = 1999

So, Tom Cubbage makes it 5 for 5 in ToC winners winning games this week!

Next week? The College Tournament! See you then!