Jeopardy! recap for Tue., Mar. 12 – Here are today’s contestants:

– Barton, a trading associate from Ontario, wants to learn more about religion;
– Evan, a business development executive from California , surprised his wife with a tenth anniversary trip to Japan (no offense to Dallas); and
– Elaine, a layout artist from Virginia, saves her ticket stubs. Elaine is a one-day champ with winnings of $15,100.

In a very competitive contest, Elaine lost the lead with an incorrect guess on the next-to-last clue of DJ, but got it right back to end the round, heading into FJ with $13,800 vs. $12,400 for Evan and $11,600 for Barton.

DD1, $600 – THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS – It’s carved on Plymouth Rock (Barton lost $1,000)

DD2, $1,200 – FRIEND OF THE COURT – P.J. O’Rourke weighed in on a case about whether an Ohio law criminalizing false statements violated this amendment (Evan won $3,000)

DD3, $2,000 – WOMEN AUTHORS – Born in Paris in 1804, she’s known for her novels, her lovers & writing under a masculine name (Barton won $4,000)

FJ – 20TH CENTURY HISTORY – Constructed in the 1930s, it extended from La Ferté to the Rhine River, though it also had sections along the Italian frontier

Elaine made the unusual strategic move of wagering for the Triple Stumper from the lead, betting only $1,000. But that plan was foiled when Barton, who one might have expected to make the smallest wager from a close third place, bet it all and was the only player correct on FJ, winning with $23,200.

Pop culture problems: No one knew the performers of two well-known roles each by Allison Janney and Susan Sarandon.

This day in Trebekistan: To introduce the first round category about history, Alex brought out his Walter Cronkite impression.

Correct Qs:
DD1 – What is 1620?
DD2 – What is the First Amendment?
DD3 – Who was George Sand?
FJ – What is the Maginot Line?