Jeopardy! recap for Wed., Feb. 28 – Let’s meet today’s contestants:

– Laura, a data analyst from Nashville, TN, who took the train and ferry to her Scottish ancestral home;
– Garan, a strategy consultant from Chicago, IL, who convinced his wife to climb the Himalayas; and
– Maryann, a librarian from Cleveland, OH, who has always loved the library. Maryann is a two-day champ with winnings of $28,602.

Garan climbed into contention behind Laura with a correct response to DD3, but an ill-advised guess very late in DJ knocked him below half of Laura’s score. As a result, Laura took a runaway into FJ with $11,600 vs. $5,200 for Garan and $4,200 for Maryann.

DD1 – RACKET BUSTERS – As a U.S. Attorney in this state, Patrick Fitzgerald helped convict ex-governor George Ryan for racketeering (Maryann lost $1,000)

DD2 – WHERE “RU”- Getting a signature in this meadow on the banks of the Thames (Laura lost $3,000)

DD3 – ODD-NUMBERED PHRASES – A line from this kids’ book: “Horrid little beasts… I shall like you so much better when you’re skins instead of pup” (Garan won $3,000)

FJ – WOMEN IN MYTHOLOGY – Poet & translator Anne Carson addresses her: “Your name in Greek means something like ‘against birth’”

Laura and Maryann were correct on FJ, with Laura picking up $1,199 to win with $12,799. Note that if Garan had bet his entire $3,800 on DD3 instead of holding back $800, he would have been able to stay alive into FJ (although the outcome would have been the same).

That’s before our time, music edition: The players couldn’t name the British no. 1 hitmakers of “Mony Mony” and “Caribbean Queen”, Billy Idol and Billy Ocean. The were also stumped on the Broadway show based on the stories of Damon Runyon, “Guys and Dolls”.

This day in Trebekistan: Alex introduced the FJ category with “Women very much in the news this year”. True (in fact, women are in the news every year, being about half the population and all), but not sure what current newsworthiness has to do with a mythology category.

Correct Qs:

DD1 – What is Illinois?
DD2 – What is Runnymede?
DD3 – What is “101 Dalmations”?
FJ – Who is Antigone?