Today’s contestants are:

• Kenji, a biomedical engineer from Michigan, at 11 years old finished fifth in the National Geographic Bee hosted by Alex;
• Sarah, a librarian from Michigan, played clarinet on skates; and
• Steven, a sports industry consultant from Georgia, was a long-time competitive swimmer. Steven is a one-day champ with winnings of $21,600.

Steven opened the game by running the Film Directors category and maintained first place throughout, but a correct response by Kenji on DD2 kept the game in reach. Going into FJ it was Steven with $27,000, Kenji at $17,800 and Sarah with $9,200.

DD1 $1,000 – NAME THAT NOVELIST! – “Tonight’s lecture…a slide show about Pagan symbolism hidden in the stones of Chartres Cathedral” (Sarah won $1,000)

DD2, $1.600 – DIET LAND – Traveling on foot, this reformer missed the Diet of Augsburg in 1518 but got a horse & wagon & made it to the one in Worms (Kenji won $5,000)

DD3, $1,200 – FOR THE BIRDS – Sailors have long been superstitious about killing this bird, as reflected in a 1798 poem (Steven won $4,000)

FJ – FAMOUS PHRASE ORIGINS – One theory says a phrase for euphoria comes from plate no. 9 in an 1896 meteorological “atlas” of these

Steven and Kenji were correct on FJ, with Steven adding $8,601 to win with $35,601 for a two-day total of $57,201. Note that Sarah bet $0, but the better play would have been to wager everything, which would have given her victory by $1 if she was right and her opponents missed.

Biographical blunders: The players were unfamiliar with Clifford Irving’s famously fake memoir of Howard Hughes, and couldn’t provide the “Miss” subject of a 110-year-old former slave’s “Autobiography”, Miss Jane Pittman.

This day in Trebekistan: “WHAT ARE FEATHERS??? BIRDS HAVE FEATHERS!!!”

Correct Qs: DD1 – Who is Dan Brown? DD2 – Who was Martin Luther? DD3 – What is an albatross? FJ – What are clouds?