Let’s meet today’s contestants:
- Robert, a copy editor, is a big Lego fan;
- Lisa, a writer, hosts a poetry interview series; and
- Dana, a book dealer-mom, lost a commercial audition due to a missing tooth. Dana is a two-day champ with winnings of $44,800.
Robert was in command most of the way, but missed two out of three DDs, so the game was still wide open going into FJ with Robert at $14,400, Lisa with $9,200 and Dana at $8,200.
DD1, $800 – MUSICAL INSTRUMENT ETYMOLOGY – Whether hammered or strummed, this instrument gets its name from the Latin for “sweet song” (Robert lost $2,200 on a true DD.)
DD2, (video) $1,200 – ON THE GLOBE – Argentina has a fertile region between two rivers, the Parana and the Uruguay, that’s known by this 11-letter name, the same as an ancient Middle Eastern civilization (Robert added $3,000 to his score of $9,200 vs. $2,200 for Dana.)
DD3, $1,600 – GASES – Trapped in pockets underground where plant decomposition has occurred, natural gas is primarily this gas (Robert dropped $3,000 from his total of $14,600 vs. $6,200 for Dana.)
FJ – AMERICAN AUTHORS – Reluctant to write what became her most famous novel, she said, “Never liked girls or knew many, except my sisters”
Everyone was correct on FJ. Robert added $4,001 to win with $18,401.
Judging the judges: For a clue about newsman Edward R. Murrow, it sounded to me (and the closed captioning) that Lisa said “Morrow”, which was accepted. But as we learned recently, if this had been FJ and was written as “Morrow”, it would be ruled incorrect.
Triple Stumper of the day: No one knew the TV show about 80s women’s wrestling with Marc Maron is “GLOW”.
This day in Trebekistan: Alex likes the new socially-distanced set design more than the old one.
Correct Qs: DD1 – What is dulcimer? DD2 – What is Mesopotamia? DD3 – What is methane? FJ – Who was Alcott?