Introducing today’s contestants:

– Ryan, a social media professional from Ohio, lived in Glasgow for 11 years;
– Joshua, a tour company owner from Hawaii, did color commentary on roller hockey, about which he knows nothing; and
– Sarah, a graduate student from California, can crochet rectangles and squares. Sarah entered the game as a two-day champ with winnings of $52,402.

Joshua successfully shopped for DD3 with the lead, made a healthy wager and was correct to show the way into FJ with $27,400 vs. $16,000 for champ Sarah and $4,400 for Ryan.

DD1, $600 – TRAIN OF THOUGHT – In 1977, after decades of dwindling ridership, this luxury train was discontinued, or was it…murdered?! (Joshua won $2,200 on a true DD.)

DD2, $1,600 – WHAT’S YOUR AREA? – This central part of a Christian church is where the worshippers sit; the altar is for the clergy (Sarah won $2,000 from her score of $10,800 vs. $9,800 for Joshua.)

DD3, $1,600 – PLACES – The 33-mile Seiken undersea tunnel links these 2 major islands that both begin with the same letter (Joshua won $6,000 from his total of $17,400 vs. $12,800 for Sarah.)

FJ – 21ST CENTURY OSCAR WINNERS – This man won Best Supporting Actor twice, both for films that won Best Picture

Everyone missed FJ, with Joshua dropping $11,000 to win with $16,400. Once again, Oscar winners and nominees in the major categories should be a must-study topic for Jeopardy! contestants.

This game was decided by Joshua’s understanding of strategy. Late in DJ he wisely jumped to the $1,600 clue on the only untouched category to find DD3, then made a bet large enough to put Sarah well under two-thirds of his score. Meanwhile, if Sarah had made a wager of a similar size on her DD opportunity, she might have stayed close enough to Joshua to win on FJ with a small bet.

Triple Stumper of the day: No one knew that ShopRite is a supermarket.

Correct Qs:
DD1 – What is the Orient Express?
DD2 – What is nave?
DD3 – What are Honshu and Hokkaido?
FJ – Who is Mahershala Ali?