Jeopardy! recap for Tue., May 21 – Please welcome today’s contestants:

– Jason, a freelance writer from New Jersey, inadvertently had his picture taken next to Brad Pitt;
– Kate, a non-profit finance professional from New York, whose husband pet a strange dog during his proposal; and
– James, a professional sports gambler from Nevada, repeatedly fake-proposed to his wife. James is a 23-day champ with winnings of $1,780,237.

James once again hit all three DDs, including back-to-back in DJ, entering FJ with $55,895 vs. $12,400 for Jason and $6,600 for Kate.

DD1, $800 – ACRONYMS & INITIALISMS – In 2018 this dividing strip of land was the site of a historic meeting between Kim Jong Un & South Korea’s president (James went all-in for $4,800.)

DD2, $800 – NEW IN SCIENCE – NASA’s Juno spacecraft recently solved the mystery of lightning seen on this planet (James won $11,381 from his total of $25,400.)

DD3 (video), $2,000 – DO YOU LOVE ME? – Seen here, she wrote one of the most famous love poems ever around 1847 (James won $11,914 from his score of $36,781.)

FJ – POETRY & THE MOVIES – Robert Lowell’s “For the Union Dead” honored the 54th Massachusetts, the infantry unit in this 1989 film that won 3 Oscars

Everyone was correct on FJ, with James adding $31,010 to win with $86,905 for a 24-day total of $1,867,142.

Clue selection strategy: After Jason gained control of the board in round one, he stayed in the cartoon category where the DD was unlikely to be, after which James jumped out of that category and found it. Then in DJ, James correctly sensed that a DD would more likely be placed under an $800 clue in Science than with larger-value clues in other categories.

Pedantry corner: None of the TV series featuring the characters Shaggy, Daphne and Velma was actually titled “Scooby-Doo”.

Correct Qs:
DD1 – What is DMZ?
DD2 – What is Jupiter?
DD3 – Who was Elizabeth Barrett Browning?
FJ – What is “Glory”?