Jeopardy! recap for Mon., Jan. 1 – Nick led both opponents by more than $8,000 after round one, but didn’t make much further progress in DJ.

Champ Henry had his rally stopped by missing DD2 and never got back into it, while Lisa’s non-response to DD3 cost her the lead going into FJ, which was held by Nick with $10,000. Lisa stayed within two-thirds of the frontrunner at $7,600 while Henry trailed with $1,100.

DD1 – BEASTLY POETRY FILL-IN – “For the strength of the pack is the _____, and the strength of the _____ is the pack” (Henry won $500)

DD2 – 3-LETTER RESPONSES – During a 3-day alumni reunion in 1961, it moved from Boston’s Back Bay to Cambridge (Henry lost $4,000)

DD3 – SIKH – In the 17th century Gobind, the 10th leader, asked all Sikh men to add this word meaning “lion” to their names (Lisa lost $2,000)

FJ – PLACES IN 1950s NEWS – Pravda reported that Khrushchev, on his way to lunch, announced his decision to give this region to Ukraine

Nick and Henry were correct on FJ, with Nick adding $5,201 to win with $15,201. Lisa gave up her possible chance to win if Nick missed without having to be correct herself by wagering almost everything.

Judging the judges: For a Before & After clue, Nick’s response for the first part of “Gangster’s Paradise” was ultimately not accepted for “Gangsta’s Paradise”. Yet less than a week ago, they accepted “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” for “I Want to Hold Your Hand”.

Contestant chit-chat: Very surprising the Alex had never heard of the PBS “happy little trees” artist Bob Ross. Also, the host seemed quite impressed that Lisa met her husband in a Boston bar before noon.

Correct Qs:

DD1 – What is “wolf”?
DD2 – What is MIT?
DD3 – What is Singh?
FJ – What is Crimea?