Andy here with the recap of Tuesday, January 6!
Today’s contestants: Val Hannon, Alan Hait, and Elliot Yates!
J! round categories:
WATCH THE BIRDIE
FOOD & RELIGION
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
VOWEL, CONSONANT, VOWEL
A LONG TIME AGO
A VEGAS HOTEL, OR…
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS $800 had the first Daily Double, and it came out early, on Clue 7 of the game! Elliot played it with scores at:
Elliot $1,000
Alan $1,000
Val $0
Elliot bet $1,000. His score: The Ravi Shankar & Vilayat Khan are methods of teaching this instrument. His correct response put him at $2,000!
Scores at the first break:
Elliot $3,600
Alan $2,800
Val $600
Val’s writing a book and she has named the protagonist Alexandra — after Mr. Trebek!
Alan ran into Elizabeth Taylor — literally — at Heathrow Airport!
Back to the game, Alan and Val had the best luck on the buzzer for most of the round, but Elliot went on a run at the end to retake the lead! Two clues went unplayed (that’s been happening much too often!).
Scores after the J! round:
Elliot $7,200
Alan $5,600
Val $2,000
DJ! round categories:
WATCH THE BIRDIE
THE UKRAINE STRAIN
A LITTLE SPICE
STATE FIRSTS
NO. 1 BESTSELLERS IN THE ZERO YEARS
THE “METRIC” SYSTEM
Alan and Val both took awhile to select clues! Val didn’t have much luck on the buzzer, either — ringing in once, a neg!
The Daily Doubles took a long time to come out in this round; STATE FIRSTS $2000 had the first one; Elliot played it and bet facing the following scores:
Elliot $14,000
Alan $9,200
Val $0
Elliot bet $2,500. His clue: In 2007 this state elected the USA’s first Indian-American governor. Elliot’s correct response put him at $16,500!
Two clues later, and right after the “minute-to-go” signal, Elliot found the other one. Take a guess where it was. Did you say WATCH THE BIRDIE $1600? Because that’s where it was! Scores:
Elliot $17,700
Alan $9,200
Val $0
Elliot bet $2,300. His clue: This fictional sleuth from St. Mary Mead enjoyed her knitting, gardening, and bird-watching. Another correct response from Elliot put him at $20,000!
With 6 clues left, Elliot went to STATE FIRSTS $400. It was the final clue played! (Maybe Alan should have been quicker!)
Scores going into Final:
Elliot $20,000
Alan $9,600
Val $0
FJ! category: ASIA
FJ! clue: Meaning “waterless place” this 500,000-square-mile area lies in what’s called a “rain shadow” of the Himalayas
Alan 9600 + 9600 = 19200
Elliot 20000 + 799 = 20799
ToC standings:
1. Vaughn Winchell $103,103 (5 wins)
Catherine Hardee $95,201 (4 wins)
2. Alexander Persaud $61,000 (3 wins)
3. Ryan Alley $56,800 (3 wins)
Bill Cossen $50,602 (3 wins)
4. Elliot Yates $50,000 (3 wins)
5. Shane Curtis $42,001 (3 wins)