Jeopardy! recap for Thur., May 30 – Today’s contestants are:

– Rob, a family physician from Delaware, practiced medicine in New Zealand;
– Megan, a librarian from Washington D.C., was in a Prince-themed roller ballet; and
– James, a professional sports gambler from Nevada, couldn’t top the roller ballet story. James is a 30-day champ with winnings of $2,323,971.

James scored on all three DDs, although he notably cut the size of his wager on DD3 after previous Triple Stumpers for the bottom three clues in the category. James led into FJ with $41,612 vs. $12,200 for Megan and $8,400 for Rob.

DD1, $800 – WORLD FACTS – This African country is known in German as Elfenbeinküste (James wagered his entire “4 dimes” and was correct.)

DD2, $1,600 – WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA – Atomistic is the opposite of this -istic view that an event or condition must be studied in its entirety (James won $9,812 from his score of $16,800.)

DD3, $800 – FILL IN THEIR DATES – Martin Luther King: ____ 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968 (James won just $5,000 from his total of $31,412.)

FJ – NATIONAL ANTHEMS – Its anthem was adopted in 1947 to replace one by Joseph Haydn that had been tainted by association with Nazis

James was the only player correct on FJ, adding $17,000 to win with $58,612 for a 31-day total of $2,382,583.

Clue selection strategy: James moved up to the $800 level in World Facts to find DD1 before choosing two $1,000 clues in other categories. Then in DJ, James ran through second-row clues searching for DD3 before even touching the oddball “Kowalski” category.

Missing the layup: For a clue about a player leadership position lost by Babe Ruth for going after a fan, after James was incorrect with “manager”, his opponents didn’t come up with “captain”.

This day in Trebekistan: Alex opened the show by trying to determine if Megan and Rob had the “determination and feistiness” to take on James. So he’s doing what many of us also do, making an instinctual judgment up front if the game is over before it starts.

Correct Qs:
DD1 – What is Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)?
DD2 – What is holistic?
DD3 – What is January?
FJ – What is Austria?