Let’s meet today’s contestants:

– Margaret, a retired air traffic controller from Florida, spent almost a year working in Saudi Arabia;
– Sam, a teacher from Minnesota, grew up on a sheep farm; and
– Ryan, a student from Pennsylvania, focused on a local cemetery for his Eagle Scout project. Ryan is a four-day champ with winnings of $107,049.

Sam did the best job of hunting for DDs, scoring strongly on all three, which allowed him to hold the lead into FJ with $23,200 vs. $19,000 for Ryan and $3,600 for Margaret.

DD1, $800 – AN ALBUM COVER – A 1969 cover featuring the Hindenburg disaster was this band’s visual introduction to the world (Sam took the lead from Ryan by winning $5,000 on a true DD.)

DD2, $1,600 – ANCIENT EGYPT – The United Nations displays a replica of one of the oldest of these, signed by Egyptians and Hittites (Sam won $6,000 from his leading total of $12,200.)

DD3, $1,600 – NUCLEAR POWERS – A. Q. Kahn of this nuclear country reportedly helped build North Korea’s & Lybia’s atomic programs (Sam won $5,000 from his leading score of $19,000.)

FJ – BESTSELLING NOVELS – For help with research, the author of this 2003 novel acknowledged the Louvre, Catholic World News & “five members of Opeu Dei”

Everyone was correct on FJ, with Sam adding $14,801 to win with $38,001. Sam’s game was a textbook example of how to take down a very talented champion, as not only did he find the DDs, he made healthy wagers that allowed him to withstand Ryan’s late rally.

Triple Stumper of the day: No one figured out the element that you remember how to spell using “one tea, 2 sugars” is potassium.

This day in Trebekistan: Before the FJ clue was revealed, Alex essentially announced that everyone should get it, then before the responses were shown, he pretty much said that everyone did get it. Why he would destroy any remaining suspense in that manner, I just don’t know.

Correct Qs:
DD1 – Who is Led Zeppelin?
DD2 – What is a (peace) treaty?
DD3 – What is Pakistan?
FJ – What is “The Da Vinci Code”?