Andy here with the third recap from the Battle of The Decades: 2000s!
Today’s contestants!
Alex: “Tom, you weren’t trying to intimidate me with that macho pose, were you?”
Tom: “Yes, I was. Did it work?”
Alex: “No.”
J! round categories:
NEW IN THE 2000s
AMERICAN IDYLL
TWEETING
LOCAL FOOD MOVEMENT
BINGE WATCHING
“SELF-E”s
Alex originally said, when reading the last category, that “SELF” was in quotation marks, not “SELF-E”, and it misled Larissa into a neg. It was refunded to her when she found the first Daily Double. The judge’s ruling, though, had the effect of throwing out the entire clue! Not sure I liked that part of the call, though! That Daily Double was under LOCAL FOOD MOVEMENT $800 and the scores were:
Larissa $2,800
Tom $1,000
Russ -$600
Larissa bet a full $2,800! Her clue: A main function of the large intestine is the absorption of these current-conducting compounds. Her immediate correct response put her at $5,600!
At the first break, the scores sat at:
Larissa $6,600
Tom $1,000
Russ -$600
If Tom wins, he wants to make a documentary about sweatshop labour, so maybe Alex “can find out the names of the 8-year-olds who made your fancy suit there, Alex.” Oooh!
Coming out of the break, Larissa and Russ had the best time on the buzzer, but Larissa still had a commanding lead! The scores at the end of 30 were:
Larissa $8,400
Russ $2,800
Tom $1,600
DJ! round categories:
WOMEN ON U.S. STAMPS
POP QUIZ
MOUNTAIN RANGERS
19th CENTURY ART & ARTISTS
LITERARY TITLES
SAME FIRST & LAST 2 LETTERS
I was shocked to see that 19th CENTURY ART didn’t have a Daily Double, considering there were visual clues! Russ did very well to make a game of it in the opening categories of this round! But then Larissa went hunting, and she found a Daily Double under LITERARY TITLES $1200! Scores:
Larissa $13,600
Russ $8,000
Tom $4,400
Larissa bet $3,600. Her clue: The title of this 1943 bestseller refers to an ailanthus. Larissa seemed to have trouble with this, but then the correct answer came to her! Alex responded with a “Good for you!” – a sentiment I must repeat! Her score went to $17,200.
Russ went with “Ashe” on WOMEN ON US STAMPS $1600 (As part of the Black Heritage series, this two-time Wimbledon champ was depicted on a 2013 stamp), leading to the following tweet from a famous Arthur:
Wait did Russ actually think Arthur Ashe was a lady? On behalf of all Arthurs I’m calling him out
— Arthur Chu (@arthur_affect) April 2, 2014
I suppose we had all 3 players hunting down Daily Doubles. I also suppose they each forgot the Daily Double was already in LITERARY TITLES. Whoops! Russ finally stumbled upon it under the penultimate clue of the round, WOMEN ON US STAMPS $800! With a $400 clue left on the board, the scores were:
Larissa $22,800
Russ $10,400
Tom $5,200
Russ bet $5,000. His clue: In 2005, for what would have been her 100th birthday, the US & Sweden issued stamps featuring this movie legend. Russ’ correct response put him at $15,400.
Thankfully for Russ, Tom got the final $400 clue to keep Russ within two thirds!
Scores going into Final:
Larissa $22,800
Russ $15,400
Tom $5,600
FJ! category: MONARCHS
FJ! clue: In 2005 the Kul Sharif Mosque of Tatarstan was reopened 453 years after it was destroyed by this man
Tom 5600 – 5600 = 0
Russ 15400 – 0 = 15400
Larissa 22800 – 8001 = 14799
Larissa lost?!??? *clutches chest* #jeopardy
— Michael Tillmon, Jr. (@hotterthanjuly) April 3, 2014
He made a couple of minor errors but Russ managed to do just enough to move on in the Battle of the Decades! I don’t think that Larissa’s SELF-E neg/refund had an effect on the outcome. I believe that the bet on Russ’ Daily Double would have been different enough so as to nullify the extra $800 that Larissa might have had early on.
See you tomorrow!