Here are the contestants for day two of the Professors Tournament:
- Katie, an associate professor of musicology at Cal State Fullerton, ran a class by cell phone light when the power went out;
- John, an associate professor of chemistry at Howard, does “chemistry without chemicals” and avoids going “boom”; and
- Marti, an elementary science education professor at Northern Arizona, spent time with students in an icy Greenland “Arctic oven”.
Jeopardy! round
BEFORE HE WAS PRESIDENT
NONFICTION
OFFICE, HOURS
POP CULTURE
MOUNTAINS
IN THE CIRRICULUM
Scores going into DJ: Marti $4,800. John $2,400, Katie $4,400
DD1 – $400 – NONFICTION – This bestselling memoir about a woman’s quest to find balance in her life was published in Spanish as “Come, Reza, Ama” (Marti added $1,000 to her score of $1,400.)
Double Jeopardy!
I’VE GOT A THEORY
NAME THE MUSICAL
MYTHOLOGY
THEY EARNED A PhD
RUSSIAN HISTORY & CULTURE
TEN-LETTER WORDS
Very well-matched contest that saw Katie take sole possession of first place on the final clue of DJ, improving to $14,000 vs. $12,000 for John and $10,400 for Marti.
DD2 – $2,000 – I’VE GOT A THEORY – Sometimes called the theory of everything, it says all the objects in our universe are made of vibrating filaments of energy (John won $2,000 to break a tie for the lead with Marti at $5,600.)
DD3 – $1,600 – RUSSIAN HISTORY & CULTURE – In the early 1900s, members of the faction that opposed Lenin were called these, meaning “one of the minority” (Katie lost $1,600 to fall into a tie for first with John at $12,000.)
Final Jeopardy!
OLD GEOGRAPHIC NAMES – This term once used for western North Africa is still used today in the name of a primate from that region
Only Marti was correct on FJ, adding $3,000 to finish at $13,400, good enough to advance when Katie dropped by $2,000 to $12,000. John lost $8,000, ending at $4,000 and in a tough spot for a wild card position.
Odds and Ends
Presidential problems: The players missed three clues in the category about presidents, including ones about dueling Andrew Jackson, Santa Anna fighter Zachary Taylor and Buffalo mayor Grover Cleveland.
Judging the writers: They apparently thought a clue on a Starz drama about wrestling (“Heels”) was easier than one about the other highly publicized multi-state lottery than Mega Millions (Powerball).
Correct Qs: DD1 – What is “Eat, Pray, Love”? DD2 – What is string theory? DD3 – Who were Mensheviks? FJ – What is Barbary?