Here are today’s contestants:

– Stephen, a naval architect from Maryland, works with Navy ships;
– Beth, a receptionist from Illinois, didn’t pay to find out she’s short because her parents are short; and
– Elise, a financial counselor from New Jersey, takes care of her cat Miss Boris Karloff. Elise is a three-day champ with winnings of $79,600.

Beth hit both DDs in DJ and won a total of $9,000 on them, helping her hold off Elise and lead into FJ with $21,400 vs. $19,800 for Elise and $2,600 for Stephen.

DD1, $1,000 – NEW YORK-SET NOVELS – Psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler & his team track down a brutal serial killer in this bestseller set in 1896 (Elise lost $1,600 from her score of $3,600.)

DD2, $1,200 – WORLD GEOGRAPHY – This peninsula stretches south about 700 miles from the Isthmus of Kra to Singapore (Beth won $5,000 from her total of $6,000 to take first place from Elise at $10,600.)

DD3, $1,600 – DOUBLE LETTERS IN THE MIDDLE – An 8-letter Olympic game of horse (Beth just beat the times-up signal, won $4,000 and broke a tie with Elise at $15,000.)

FJ – BUSINESS 2019 – The New York Stock Exchange allowed jeans on the trading floor for the initial public offering of the stock with this 4-letter symbol

Beth and Stephen were correct on FJ, with Beth adding $18,201 to win with $39,601.

Wagering strategy: Elise chose to wager nearly everything on FJ from a close second place, unnecessarily forcing herself to be correct to have a chance to win and falling to third when she missed.

Triple Stumper of the day: No one knew the movie referred to in a clue with Audrey Tautou as a waitress, “Amélie”.

Words to live by from Beth: “Faint heart never won fair lady or game show.”

Correct Qs:
DD1 – What is “The Alienist”?
DD2 – What is the Malay Peninsula?
DD3 – What is dressage?
FJ – What is LEVI?